In abortion pill hearing, SCOTUS sounds skeptical of challenge to mifepristone access

It's the first major abortion rights case since Roe was overruled.

ByAlexandra Hutzler and Mary Kekatos
Last Updated: March 26, 2024, 9:02 AM EDT

A high-stakes hearing played out before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in a case that could reshape abortion access nationwide.

The justices considered a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of mifepristone, the first pill taken in a two-drug regimen for a medication abortion, which is the most common method of abortion in the country.

It is the first major reproductive rights case before the high court since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. A decision is expected by the end of June.

Key moments:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Mar 26, 2024, 9:23 AM EDT

What is mifepristone at center of Supreme Court battle?

Mifepristone is a drug typically used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, to induce an abortion or to help manage an early miscarriage.

The medication works by blocking progesterone, a hormone that the body needs to continue a pregnancy.

This causes the uterine lining to stop thickening and to break down, detaching the embryo. The second drug, misoprostol, taken 24 to 48 hours later, causes the uterus to contract and dilates the cervix, which will expel the embryo.

In this photo illustration, packages of Mifepristone tablets are displayed at a family planning clinic on April 13, 2023 in Rockville, Md.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, FILE

However, the World Health Organization says the two drug-regiment can be taken up until the 12-week mark of pregnancy.

Mar 26, 2024, 9:16 AM EDT

What's at stake

Experts say the Supreme Court's decision could result in limits on the drug even in states where abortion is legal. It could restrict the ability to mail abortion medication to patients living in states with bans in effect and require that the drug be provided in-person, as well as change how many weeks into pregnancy the pill could be used.

The case could also have broader consequences for the FDA's regulatory authority over other drugs.

Mar 26, 2024, 9:03 AM EDT

How we got here

Medication abortion quickly became the target of multiple lawsuits after the Supreme Court struck down Roe's guarantees to national abortion access.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas issued an unprecedented ruling suspending the FDA's initial approval of the drug (which has been on the market for nearly 25 years) because, he said, the drug was unsafe and its approval process rushed.

Kacsmaryk's order was partially blocked by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, though that court held the FDA acted unlawfully when it eased rules in 2016 and 2021 to allow the pill to be mailed to patients, prescribed by a medical professional and taken later in pregnancy.

The Biden administration then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, warning the loss of access would be "damaging for women and healthcare providers" nationwide and defending the FDA's process as supported by science and decades of safe use.