Supreme Court casts doubt on efforts to make abortion pill harder to obtain | Wilnesh News

Washington—— Supreme Court A challenge to the abortion drug mifepristone appeared likely Tuesday, with some judges saying the lawsuit should be thrown out.

The court’s 6-3 conservative majority heard oral arguments in the Biden administration’s appeal of a lower court ruling limiting women’s access to birth control pills, including by mail.

But amid the debate, there has been little discussion of whether the FDA’s decision to lift restrictions on the drug was illegal.

Instead, the justices focused on whether the anti-abortion doctor group that filed the lawsuit had legal standing to bring the claim. The plaintiffs, represented by the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, argue the FDA failed to adequately assess the drug’s safety risks.

But the justices looked into whether doctors could prove they were directly injured simply because they opposed abortion, and that potentially requiring emergency room treatment of women suffering serious side effects.

Several justices also noted that anti-abortion doctors can already object based on personal beliefs to helping patients suffering abortion-related side effects.

“Under federal law, no doctor can be compelled against his conscience to perform or assist in an abortion, right?” conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked at one point.

Even if the court is able to rule against the challengers and rule, some justices have questioned whether the lower court’s ruling was too broad in its nationwide application.

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch said the case was “a classic example of turning a small lawsuit into a national legislative meeting over FDA rules.”

The only justices who seemed interested in debating whether the FDA’s actions were illegal and hinted at sympathy for that argument were conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

“Your argument here is that even if the FDA acted illegally, no one can challenge that in court,” Alito said in an exchange with Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth Preloga, who is representing the FDA.

As early as 7:30 a.m., different rallies began outside the Supreme Court building. Most people appeared to support abortion rights and chanted slogans through loudspeakers, but there were also a small group holding signs protesting “chemical abortion”. slogan.

Mifepristone is used as part of an FDA-approved two-drug regimen most abortions Nationwide.

The case is a major test for the conservative-majority court, which in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a woman’s constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.

The FDA is backed by the pharmaceutical industry, which warns that any second-guessing of the approval process by untrained federal judges could lead to Creates confusion and hinders innovation.

Danco, which makes Mifeprex, a branded version of the pill, argued with the FDA during oral arguments.

The oral arguments came after U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas issued a sweeping ruling that entirely invalidated the FDA’s approval of the drug, prompting abortion-rights campaigns People are panicking, fearing the drug will be banned altogether.

Last April, the Supreme Court put that ruling on hold, meaning the drug remains widely available for now.

In August, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans narrowed Kacsmaryk’s appeal but upheld his ruling that the FDA’s move to lift restrictions starting in 2016 was unlawful.

Both sides appealed to the Supreme Court. The court in December accepted the Biden administration’s appeal defending the FDA’s later decision, but it chose not to hear a challenge to mifepristone’s original approval in 2000. Therefore, the issue was not brought before the judge.

Instead, the court focused on the FDA’s subsequent actions, including the 2021 preliminary decision that was finalized last year and provided by mail.

The court is also considering a 2016 decision to extend the window for mifepristone to terminate a pregnancy from 7 weeks to 10 weeks and reduce the number of in-person patient visits from three to one. In another move in 2016, the FDA changed the dosing regimen and found that a lower dose of mifepristone was sufficient.

The outcome of the case could have wide-ranging practical implications if it restricts access to the drug, with many states seeking to restrict abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, 14 states have virtually outright abortion bans.

–Laura Jarrett contributed.