Supreme Court to Weigh Major Case on Abortion Pill Approval

The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it is taking on a case regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the chemical abortion pill mifepristone.

Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Pediatricians and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations filed a lawsuit against the FDA in November 2022, claiming that the FDA had ignored safety protocols to approve the abortion pill mifepristone. The Supreme Court said this week that it would hear the case, one of the first major abortion cases taken up by the court since overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022, according to an order list.

Read More

Federal Appeals Court Allows Abortion Pill Approval to Stand, with Restrictions

A federal appeals court has allowed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill to temporarily stand with some limitations.

The Biden administration appealed and filed an emergency motion with the Fifth Circuit shortly after Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary injunction against the FDA’s approval of the drug on Friday, a decision the administration called “extraordinary and unprecedented.” In a 2-1 ruling issued late Wednesday night, the Fifth Circuit granted in part the motion for a stay pending appeal, narrowing the judge’s ruling to apply only to rules issued by the FDA prior to 2016.

Read More

Abortion Pill Maker Sues Red States over Bans: ‘Impacts the Company’s Bottom Line’

A company behind the manufacturing of a pill used in chemical abortions filed a lawsuit on Wednesday morning challenging state bans on the abortions, The New York Times reported. GenBioPro, which makes the abortion pill mifepristone, filed the lawsuit in a West Virginia federal court to argue that Federal Food and Drug regulations (FDA) take priority over state laws regulating abortion, according to the NYT. The lawsuit argues that the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill trumps state laws and that abortion bans violate the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which protects interstate commerce.

Read More

Judge Theodore Chuang Rules Women Can Get Abortion Pill Without Doctor Visit

A federal judge agreed Monday to suspend a rule that requires women during the COVID-19 pandemic to visit a hospital, clinic or medical office to obtain an abortion pill.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, an Obama appointee based in Maryland, concluded that the “in-person requirements” for patients seeking medication abortion care impose a “substantial obstacle” to abortion patients and are likely unconstitutional under the circumstances of the pandemic.

Read More