The Supreme Court battle over the abortion pill and FDA authority, explained
Enlarge / Demonstrators rally in support of abortion rights at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on April 15, 2023. (credit: Getty | NDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS )
The US Supreme Court may soon issue a ruling in a high-stakes case that will determine not only the national availability of the safe and effective abortion and miscarriage medication mifepristone but also the fate of the Food and Drug Administration's overall authority to regulate the country's drugs.
In case you haven't been following along, here's everything you need to know before the high court makes its next move.
The case: Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA
The case began last November in a federal court in Texas when a group of anti-abortion organizations (led by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine) filed a lawsuit against the FDA, claiming that the regulator's approval and regulation of mifepristone was unlawful. As expected, District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary injunction on April 7 revoking the FDA's 2000 approval and ruled that the FDA's actions between 2016 and 2021, which included easing restrictions on the drug's use and access, were also unlawful. Kacsmaryk granted a seven-day stay of the order, allowing time for the government to appeal the ruling and seek a longer freeze. Without intervention, mifepristone could have been wrenched from the market nationwide on April 15.