Attorneys representing anti-abortion physicians have requested that the Supreme Court permit limitations on a medication utilized in the most prevalent abortion method in the United States while litigation is ongoing. The Biden administration and Danco Laboratories, a New York-based company that produces the medication mifepristone, have asked that lower-court decisions limiting the use of mifepristone be kept on hold.
Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents physicians and medical organizations challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the medication, contends that the FDA has eliminated all significant and necessary protections for chemical abortion. The legal brief submitted by the anti-abortion physicians specifically highlighted what they referred to as “mail-order abortion,” recent changes that enable women to obtain mifepristone through the mail without having to visit a doctor in person.
President Joe Biden’s administration and Danco have maintained that the medication is both safe and effective. Nevertheless, the legal challenge to mifepristone rapidly made its way to the Supreme Court after a federal judge issued a ruling on April 7th that would rescind its FDA approval. Less than a week later, a federal appeals court altered the ruling so that mifepristone would remain available while the case is ongoing, albeit with restrictions.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe appeals court determined that the medication could not be mailed or dispensed as a generic and that patients seeking it must make three in-person visits to a doctor, among other requirements. The court also ruled that for now, the medication should only be approved for use up to seven weeks of pregnancy, even though since 2016, the FDA has endorsed its use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Adding to the complexity of the situation, a federal judge in Washington has instructed the FDA to maintain access to mifepristone under current regulations in 17 states led by Democrats and the District of Columbia that have filed a separate lawsuit. The outcome of this case remains uncertain.
