Dark money is flowing to groups trying to limit medication abortion. Leonard Leo is at the core
Originally published by The 19th
In the first half of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a high-profile case that could make it more difficult to access mifepristone, one of the drugs used in medication abortions.
Central to the effort to block use of the drug is conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, who has played a well-known role shaping the current judiciary via the Federalist Society and advising former President Donald Trump on Supreme Court picks. Less examined is the vast web of entities linked to Leo that work to promote his conservative Christian worldview by weakening the Voting Rights Act, promoting publicly funded religious schools — and restricting access to medication abortion.
The Supreme Court in June 2022 eliminated the federal right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. At that time, medication abortions accounted for more than half of all abortions provided by clinics annually in the United States. Since the ruling, some patients in states with abortion bans have turned to medication abortion, via telehealth appointments with providers in less restrictive states or by ordering mifepristone and misoprostol — the two-pill regimen to induce abortions — online.