WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has unanimously upheld access to a drug used in the majority of Abortions in the United States on Thursday, however abortion Opponents say the ruling won’t be the last word in the fight against mifepristone.
THE narrow decision came two years after the High Court struck down abortion rights nationwide. Rather than pursue the issue further, the high court ruled that anti-abortion doctors did not have the legal right to sue.
This could leave room for anti-abortion states or other opponents to continue the fight.
Some takeaways from the decision:
What does this say about the Supreme Court and abortion?
Not necessarily a lot. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was part of the court’s majority two years ago to overturn Roe, used a minimalist approach in his opinion that seemed designed to avoid disagreement and reach a unanimous outcome.
The court ruled that abortion opponents could not sue because they were not actually harmed by the drug, in part because federal laws prevent doctors from performing abortions if they constitute a object.
The court did not consider whether the FDA ultimately adhered to the law when it made changes to relax access to mifepristone, allowing telehealth prescribing and mail delivery to patients. He said opponents could make their case elsewhere, like the president or the FDA.
Not a word has been written about the Comstock Act, a 19th-century law that some abortion opponents say can be used to prevent the mailing of mifepristone and which was mentioned by two conservative justices during the pleadings.
The court’s ability to reach a unanimous decision was surely also aided by aggressive lower court rulings that encompassed much of the abortion opponents’ lawsuits and moved away from the way courts typically decide whether a person can take legal action. This year, the Supreme Court is considering several appeals against groundbreaking rulings from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kavanaugh delivered a rebuke in the form of a brief but pointed civics lesson, saying a federal courthouse is “not a legislature, a town square, or a college lounge.”
What happens next?
The legal battle over mifepristone does not appear to be over.
Erin Hawley, the lead attorney for abortion opponents, said she expects states that have already joined the lawsuit to pursue the case. They could argue that even if doctors don’t have the legal standing to challenge the drug, states do.
The attorney general of one of those states, Kris Kobach of Kansas, struck a similar note, saying it was “essential” that the case proceed.
One potential problem for the states is that the justices have refused to let them intervene in the Supreme Court case.
Abortion rights advocates also said they expected efforts to restrict mifepristone to continue.
What does this mean politically?
Thursday’s decision avoids immediate seismic political effects, but the issue will remain at the center of debate this election year.
Democrats said the Supreme Court made the right decision on abortion drugs, but warned the decision would not end the Republican Party’s threats against abortion rights. Vice President Kamala Harris said former President Donald Trump’s allies will still try to halt access to medication abortion and pass new restrictions, including a nationwide ban.
Patient Kaniya Harris, 21, said she was deeply relieved that the drug allowed her to self-manage her abortion in Bethesda, Maryland, during her freshman year of college in March 2023. She then demonstrated outside the court in support of access to the drug. .
“We still have a way to go,” she said. “We continue to push for access to abortion… . But at least it’s a step in the right direction.”
Currently, only about half of the states allow full access to the drug under the FDA, although statistics show people living in restricted states continued to receive the drug through the mail.
Most Republican officials and candidates have not been so vocal. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has previously said he would announce a position on medication abortion, but has not done so. He said in April that abortion should be left to the States, but this week, he also Urgent an anti-abortion Christian group defend “innocent life”.
Abortion will also be placed directly on the ballot in at least four states where voters are being asked to approve constitutional amendments that would guarantee access to abortion. Similar measures could also be offered to voters in several other states.
Is the Supreme Court done with abortion?
No. This isn’t even the last case of abortion this trimester. The Supreme Court is also expected to issue a ruling in the coming weeks on whether federal law protects emergency abortions In States with strict bans.
The Biden administration maintains that abortion care should be allowed in cases where a woman’s health is seriously threatened. She sued the state of Idaho, which argues its exception for life-saving care is sufficient.
Kavanaugh mentioned the high court’s other abortion case in Thursday’s ruling, noting that the Justice Department acknowledged that doctors opposed to abortion were not required to participate under the federal conscience laws.
The reference does not hint at how the court might rule in this case, said Sara Rosenbaum, a health policy professor at George Washington University. The fact that the court has not made a decision in this case as well as in the mifepristone case could indicate that the decision on emergency abortion “is going to be a much more difficult decision.”
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Associated Press writers Mark Sherman and Amanda Seitz in Washington, Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, NJ, and Christine Fernando in Chicago contributed to this report.