WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone, making the drug widely available for the public.
The court found unanimously that a group of anti-abortion doctors that questioned the Food and Drug Administration’s decisions making it easier to access the pill did not have legal standing to sue.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that while the plaintiffs have “sincere legal, moral, ideological, and policy objections to elective abortion and to FDA’s relaxed regulation of mifepristone,” they did not have a federal case.
“The plaintiffs may present their concerns and objections to the president and FDA in the regulatory process or to Congress and the president in the legislative process,” Kavanaugh wrote. “And they may also express their views about abortion and mifepristone to fellow citizens, including in the political and electoral processes.”
The court’s decision means mifepristone will remain available under pre-existing conditions, which include allowing women to receive the medication by mail.
Mifepristone is the first pill taken in a two-drug regimen for medication abortion, which is the most common method of abortion in the country.
“For that reason, the federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions,” Kavanaugh wrote. “The plaintiffs may present their concerns and objections to the President and FDA in the regulatory process, or to Congress and the President in the legislative process.”
Abortion opponents called the decision as “deeply disappointing.”
“It is a sad day for all who value women’s health and unborn children’s lives, but the fight to stop dangerous mail-order abortion drugs is not over,” said Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America policy director Katie Daniel.
The ruling puts abortion back in the spotlight since the court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, sparking a string of losses for Republicans.
Former President Donald Trump held a meeting with Congressional Republicans in Washington on Thursday, where he cautioned House Republicans to not go too far on abortion.
