The U.S. Supreme Court commenced hearings on Tuesday regarding potential restrictions on access to the abortion pill, as President Joe Biden’s administration endeavors to uphold broad access to the medication. This pivotal case has rekindled debates on reproductive rights, bringing them to the forefront of the justices’ agenda in a presidential election year.
The Biden administration has lodged an appeal against a lower court’s ruling that would curtail the prescription and distribution of the medication, known as mifepristone. The challenge to mifepristone in Texas was initiated by four medical associations and four doctors who are opposed to abortion.
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulatory changes in question encompass permitting medication abortions up to 10 weeks into pregnancy instead of seven and facilitating mail delivery of the drug without requiring an in-person consultation with a clinician.
Representing the administration, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar urged the justices to dismiss the case, contending that the plaintiffs lacked sufficient legal standing to bring the challenge. Prelogar emphasized the plaintiff’s failure to demonstrate requisite harm traceable to the FDA, asserting that they fell short of meeting the criteria for legal injury.
The plaintiffs have asserted that their member doctors may be compelled to violate their moral convictions because they may frequently encounter situations where they are required to address complications arising from abortion drugs in emergency settings, a consequence of what they deem to be the FDA’s unlawful actions.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the court’s 2022 ruling overturning the precedent set by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision recognizing a constitutional right to abortion, pressed Prelogar to identify potential plaintiffs eligible to sue the FDA.