The Supreme Court will hear arguments about access to the abortion medication mifepristone on March 26, which is the first major test of abortion limits to go before the highest court since the same panel overturned federal abortion rights in June 2022. The lawsuit could have massive ramifications for the Food and Drug Administration’s authority. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 to be used within the first seven weeks of pregnancy, and then extended that approval to 10 weeks of pregnancy 16 years later. The Biden administration in 2021 removed requirements that the pill had to be taken in-person with a provider, opening the door to mail-order prescriptions. An appeals court last year upheld the FDA’s approval of the drug but struck down the mail-order provision. The Christian-based medical organization, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, brought the suit in a Texas federal court, challenging the agency’s original approval and the changes for broader access. Reproductive rights advocates argue that mifepristone has been proven safe over more than two decades of use. Mifepristone accounts for roughly half of all abortions in the U.S., according to reproductive rights group Guttmacher Institute.
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SCOTUS will hear mifepristone abortion pill case in March
