What to Know About the Abortion Pill After the Supreme Court Ruling

The US Supreme Court on June 13 preserved the current level of access to medication abortion, the most common method of terminating a pregnancy in the country. The conservative-majority court unanimously ruled that anti-abortion doctors and organizations that sued in an attempt to overrule the way the Food and Drug Administration regulates the abortion pill mifepristone, which is commonly available via mail order, lacked legal standing.

The Supreme Court weighed the Biden administration’s challenge of the August appeals court ruling putting limits on access to mifepristone. The appeals court had rejected in part a decision by a federal judge in Texas to temporarily suspend the clearance of the drug, which was first approved by the FDA in 2000. However, the appeals court said decisions by the FDA starting in 2016 to expand access to mifepristone should be rolled back. Those decisions included allowing mail-order prescriptions, waiving a requirement for in-person doctor visits for a prescription, and extending the approved period for the drug’s use by three weeks to the 10-week gestation point. The Supreme Court said those who brought the case lacked standing because they weren’t directly affected by the FDA’s rule changes.