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SCOTUS to issue a decision on mifepristone in the coming months
Following yesterday’s hearing, experts predict that SCOTUS will issue a final ruling on mifepristone access in the coming months, likely siding with the FDA.
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has yet to decide on mifepristone access in the US; however, many predict that the decision will come by late spring, June or July 2024 at the latest. Public opinion also predicts that the justices will side with the FDA on this decision, based on the rhetoric throughout the hearings.
On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, SCOTUS heard oral arguments on access to mifepristone, the abortion pill. While no definitive statements have been made, multiple sources, including CNN, note that the judges seem skeptical of restricting abortion access.
According to the CNN Live Report, liberal and conservative justices alike questioned the necessity for a nationwide ban when providers could opt not to treat patients using the pill. However, some conservatives are critical of the Biden Administration’s implication that doctors opposing mifepristone cannot sue the FDA.
This case and discussions around access to medication abortion have been floating around for nearly a year since a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas, Mathew Kacsmaryk, issued a preliminary injunction during the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. United States FDA case that invalidated the FDA’s approval of mifepristone in 2000 on April 7, 2023
Shortly after the injunction, SCOTUS judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., on April 14, 2023, issued an order that lifted restrictions on the abortion pill pending a ruling from the Supreme Court. SCOTUS echoed this order through an April 21, 2023, ruling that upheld approval pending the ongoing cases.
More abortion restrictions emerged on August 16, 2023, when the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision that prevented the distribution of abortion pills through the mail, reversing the 2021 non-enforcement decision and requiring individuals to get the drug in person.
It wasn’t until December 13, 2023, that SCOTUS agreed to hear the case appealing the Fifth Circuit’s decision.
While the decision has not been made, sources anticipate it will take roughly three months for SCOTUS to release its final ruling. CNN predicts June or July for the final ruling, while the New York Times anticipates June. Other sources are more optimistic about an earlier decision, anticipating results in late spring.
