The Supreme Court has issued a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court of Appeals preserving access to mifepristone
Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2000, mifepristone is the first dose in a two-pill regimen to induce an abortion in the first trimester. In recent years, the FDA has taken measures to make it more accessible, including making it available by mail and allowing patients to take the drug up until 10 weeks of pregnancy. Medication abortion now accounts for a little over half of all abortions in the US.
A temporary stay from the U.S. Supreme Court preserving status-quo access to mifepristone expires at 11:59 p.m. ET today unless the court intervenes. If the stay expires, an order from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would take effect and impose multiple restrictions, including prohibiting the pills from being distributed by mail.
In a statement, Skye Perryman with the legal advocacy group Democracy Forward Foundation and one of the lawyers in the case, said the outcome could have larger significance for other medications.
If far right external interest groups can affect drug availability in the country without legal and regulatory protections, then there will be industry wide implications. “If this were to be the case, few companies would be incentivized to develop and bring essential medications to market.”
The pill is on the market for a few days. The Supreme Court’s decision on access to the pill will likely be the most important ruling on reproductive rights since the court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Many drugs have been taken off the market due to risks to patients or because of low demand. But no court has ever suspended the FDA approval of a drug before.
In seeking to restrict access to abortion across the United States, the plaintiffs in this case have, intentionally or not, seriously jeopardized our nation’s 85-year-old drug regulatory system. We must be cleareyed; upholding any parts of the district court’s dangerous ruling would in all likelihood almost immediately prompt challenges to other longstanding safe and effective F.D.A.-approved drugs that doctors and patients rely on every day.
Legislators, activists and litigants push for extreme measures to increase the odds of maternal deaths, in order to upend abortion access after the overturn of Roe v Wade. Not satisfied with banning abortion in their home states, some lawmakers are trying to restrict access in other states as well — a chilling attempt to intimidate patients and physicians alike.
After three years of politicization fueled by disinformation, this would surely include challenges to many vaccines, including those that reduce the risks of serious illness from Covid-19. We should expect lawsuits against contraceptives that are highly effective and safe. Also at risk: drugs used to treat cancer and arthritis that can incidentally affect unexpected pregnancies, drugs to prevent or treat H.I.V., and medications aimed at providing gender-affirming care.