Beginning last June, conservative courts have waged war upon abortion rights across the United States. Starting with the overturning of Roe v. Wade – which allowed conservative states to enact abortion bans – the past year has been rife with rulings infringing upon a woman's access to safe abortions. Now, the newest battle in the attack against abortions is upon mifepristone, a commonly used abortion drug.
According to Planned Parenthood, mifepristone, a drug commonly used for terminating pregnancies up to 10 weeks along, works by blocking the hormone progesterone. This effectively ends the progression of the pregnancy. After up to 48 hours later, misoprostol is taken to empty the uterus and fully terminate the pregnancy. Together, the two pills are colloquially known as the “Abortion Pill”.
Mifepristone has been deemed safe for use by the FDA since 2000 for up to seven weeks of gestation and was extended to ten weeks in 2016. Since then, periodic reviews of mifepristone by the FDA have indicated that it remains safe when used correctly. When used with misoprostol, mifepristone successfully terminates 95 percent of all pregnancies under ten weeks of gestation, with less than 1% of cases resulting in complications.
However, in November 2022, a coalition of pro-life organizations challenged the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, alleging that the process the FDA used to approve mifepristone in 2000, and subsequent modifications, were unlawful and failed to adequately consider all potential risks. On April 7th, US District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled against the FDA and rolled back approval for mifepristone, effectively ending its access across all fifty states.
The decision itself was set to take effect seven days after the initial ruling, which allowed the Justice Department to challenge the ruling within the week. On April 12th, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled partially in favor of the Justice Department, declaring that the initial approval of mifepristone in 2000 was lawful, but subsequent modifications by the FDA were not – meaning that mifepristone was only available on the market for up to seven weeks of gestation and not deliverable by mail.
After an additional appeal by the Justice Department, the Supreme Court blocked all previous rulings and upheld the distribution and use of mifepristone as set by FDA recommendations on April 21st, but sent the case back down to the Fifth Circuit. Essentially, until the Fifth Circuit issues another decision regarding mifepristone, the pill will remain available on the market.
Following the appeal, on May 17th, a panel of three Republican-president appointed judges weighed oral arguments regarding the legality of mifepristone for over two hours. At this point, a ruling could be issued at any time, but there is no deadline for a decision.
Regardless of the outcome, the case is likely to escalate back to the Supreme Court.
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