WASHINGTON — In a blow to abortion advocates, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone, meaning the commonly used drug can remain widely available.
The court unanimously ruled that the group of anti-abortion doctors who questioned the Food and Drug Administration’s decisions facilitating access to the pill did not have standing to file a lawsuit.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the court, wrote that although the plaintiffs have “sincere legal, moral, ideological, and political objections to elective abortion and the FDA’s relaxed regulation of mifepristone,” this does not doesn’t mean they have a federal case.
The plaintiffs failed to show that they suffered any harm, meaning that “the federal courts are not the appropriate forum to address plaintiffs’ concerns about the FDA’s actions,” he said. he adds.
“Complainants may present their concerns and objections to the President and the FDA in the regulatory process or to Congress and the President in the legislative process,” Kavanaugh wrote. “And they can also express their opinions on abortion and mifepristone to their fellow citizens, including in political and electoral processes.”
The legal challenge was brought by doctors and other medical professionals represented by the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom.
“We are disappointed that the Supreme Court did not recognize the merits of the FDA’s unlawful suppression of common-sense safety standards for abortion drugs,” said Erin Hawley, one of the group’s attorneys. She told reporters she hopes the underlying lawsuit can proceed because three states — Idaho, Missouri and Kansas — have filed their own claims and have different arguments to defend themselves.
By dismissing the case on such grounds, the court avoided making a decision on the legal merits of whether the FDA had acted lawfully in lifting various restrictions, including making the drug available by mail, which which means the same issues could still come before the court in another case.
Another regulatory decision left in place means women can still get the pill within 10 weeks of gestation instead of seven.
Likewise, the decision to allow health care providers other than doctors to dispense the pill will remain in effect.
The ruling comes two years after the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, overturned the landmark abortion rights ruling Roe v. Wade, which led to a wave of new abortion restrictions in conservative states.
Then the court suggested it was recusing itself from the political debate over abortion, but as litigation continues to rage over abortion access, the justices continue to play a central role.
Abortion rights supporters welcomed the decision, with Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, saying she was relieved by the outcome but angered that the case had dragged on for so long through the court system.
“Thank God the Supreme Court rejected this unwarranted attempt to restrict access to medical abortion, but the fact remains that this baseless case should never have gone this far,” he said. she declared in a press release.
Danco Laboratories, maker of Mifeprex, the brand-name version of mifepristone, also welcomed the decision, saying it was good for the drug approval process as a whole.
In rejecting the challenge, the court “maintained the stability of the FDA’s drug approval process, which relies on the agency’s expertise and is relied upon by patients, health care providers, and others.” “American pharmaceutical industry,” said company spokeswoman Abigail Long.
Anti-abortion groups expressed disappointment, saying the decision highlighted the importance of this year’s elections in which Democratic President Joe Biden, who has pledged to defend abortion rights, will face the Republican Donald Trump, who enjoys strong support from conservatives opposed to abortion. .
“Joe Biden and Democrats are committed to mandating abortion on demand at any time and for any reason, including mail-order abortions, in every state across the country,” said SBA President Marjorie Dannenfeiser Pro-Life America.
If Trump wins the election, his FDA appointees would be able to impose new restrictions on mifepristone.
The mifepristone dispute is not the only abortion case currently before the courts. He also must decide whether Idaho’s strict abortion ban prevents emergency room doctors from performing abortions when a pregnant woman faces dangerous complications.
Mifepristone is used as part of an FDA-approved two-drug regimen that is now the most common form of abortion in the United States.
Abortion is effectively completely banned in 14 states, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.
The FDA had the support of the pharmaceutical industry, which warned that any challenges to the approval process by untrained federal judges could cause chaos and discourage innovation.
Last year, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a sweeping ruling that completely invalidated the FDA’s approval of the pill, sparking panic among abortion rights activists over its ban across the country.
The Supreme Court stayed that decision last April, meaning the pill remained widely available while the litigation continued.
In August, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently reduced Kacsmaryk’s ruling, but upheld its conclusion that the FDA’s decision to lift restrictions starting in 2016 was unlawful .
Both parties appealed to the Supreme Court. In December, the court granted the Biden administration’s appeal to defend the FDA’s subsequent decisions, but it chose not to hear the challenge to mifepristone’s initial approval in 2000.
The Supreme Court focused only on the FDA’s subsequent action, including the initial 2021 decision making the drug available by mail, which was finalized last year.
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News Source : www.nbcnews.com
