Supreme Court Upholds Access to Abortion Pill Mifepristone After Rogue Texas Ruling
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled to uphold national access to a widely used abortion drug, offering a temporary, yet significant, win for abortion rights.
The ruling means the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a medication used by hundreds of thousands of people annually for both abortions and miscarriages, will be maintained while other lawsuits in lower courts play out.
The case stemmed from a dizzying set of rulings in April over mifepristone’s legality and limits. Two weeks ago, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a far-right federal judge in Texas, went rogue by suspending the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, which was approved by the FDA in 2000. But just hours later, a second federal judge—Thomas O. Rice, an Obama appointee—issued an opposing ruling, ordering the FDA to keep mifepristone on the market in 17 Democratic states and Washington, D.C.