The Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments on March 26 in a pivotal case surrounding mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug. The case of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine emerged following the FDA’s removal of the need for in-person doctor visits for women taking the drug. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Counsel, Erin Hawley, warns that this could lead to more women suffering severe medical conditions, with approximately 4% of women taking these drugs ending up in emergency care.
This date is the Supreme Court’s first significant return to the abortion debate since the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in June 2022. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine was among the group of doctors challenging the FDA’s 2000 approval of mifepristone in a lawsuit filed the same year. US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk blocked the FDA’s 2000 approval but this met resistance, with the administration appealing to the US Court of Appeals.
In a pending case, the Biden administration and the maker of the drug are requesting the Supreme Court overturn the 5th Circuit’s August 2023 decision upholding FDA approval but also ending mail-order sales of mifepristone. The drug can now only be used up to seven weeks into a pregnancy, rather than the previous ten weeks.