Case will determine future of mifepristone in first major abortion issue to reach country’s highest court since it overturned Roe
The US supreme court on Wednesday agreed to hear oral arguments in a case that could determine the future of a pill used in most abortions in the US, in the first major abortion rights case to land at the country’s highest court since the justices overturned Roe v Wade and abolished the national right to the procedure in 2022.
A decision in the case will probably arrive in summer 2024, just months before the presidential election. The outcome of the case could affect not just access to the pill, which has been repeatedly deemed safe and effective, but the Federal Drug Administration’s authority to regulate all manner of medications.
The drug at the heart of the case is mifepristone, one of the two drugs typically used in medication abortions, which make up the majority of US abortions. Last year, an association of anti-abortion organizations and doctors, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the FDA had overstepped its authority when it approved mifepristone in 2000.
Well crap
This could be really bad considering the current makeup of the court, but it is good they took up the case. The current ruling on this is abhorrent and really needs to be overturned. Abortion access opponents were fighting this appeal. It was the federal government/Biden admin who wanted this appealed immediately to overturn the current ruling, that basically would let judges strike down fda approvals willy nilly. Another chapter in the long book of “judges who think they’re doctors” stupid court rulings. Not to mention issues of standing and many other dubious things in the initial rulings. Just conservative partisan hack judges bending over backwards to get the outcome they want with no good justification.
The conservative SCOTUS will make it worse.
Check out where the ruling stands already:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2811388
It’s hard to imagine a worse ruling. The Biden admin is absolutely right to appeal this and try to preserve access to this drug. Believe it or not there are more extreme conservative judges out there than the supreme court justices. The venue abortion opponents started this case in was particularly selected by abortion opponents, because they know exactly what trial Judge they’ll get, and this Jude will write any random nonsense to restrict abortion access, and has done this on many occasions. Then the appeal goes to the fifth circuit who are very extreme idealogues. Even the supreme court over ruled their extreme opinions six out of seven times in 2019-2020 and five out of seven times 2020-2021.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/nov/15/fifth-circuit-court-appeals-most-extreme-us
But basically, the current ruling from the fifth circuit is so extreme if allowed to stand its hard to fathom how even this supreme court could make the ruling any worse. Abortion access opponents didn’t want the ruling appealed and were hoping the supreme court would not hear the case, so it’s good the supreme court is hearing it. It’s at least a chance at over turning this.
I wouldn’t past the conservative justices to simply use this case to rule all abortion illegal nationwide. Or more likely, will support the decision and tack on additional restrictions by expanding the scope.
Don’t get your hopes up with this SCOTUS, just because they didn’t do it before doesn’t mean they won’t pick a case that they think is more suited to their ambitions.
They aren’t medically qualified to make these decisions
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Lol ‘ignore them’? Tell that to the millions of lives this decision will affect. They don’t have the ability to just ignore them. Go fuck yourself.
Except we can ignore the Supreme Court. It’s been done before, there is precedent for that. And the Supreme Court has no way to enforce its rulings.
Are you… are you kidding? This will make access to the drugs impossible for everyone. Drug manufacturers will stop making it. Doctors will stop prescribing it, pharmacies will stop carrying it, and FAR MORE WOMEN THAN YOU REALLY KNOW will be forced to carry and birth children they cannot have or do not want.
The Supreme Court has power. I really hope you’re an astroturfing troll and not this daft and fucking dumb. This kind of apathy and downplaying is EXACTLY WHY all this fucked up shit is happening.
Fucking troll.
No I’m not joking, presidents have ignored Supreme Court decisions in the past, and so can states. Look it up if you don’t believe me.
And I’m not apathetic, i am suggesting that this is what we should do when the supreme court decides to try to ban abortion in the country.
This is not a right, I’m willing to let someone just decide I don’t have.
Don’t listen to him, he’s too emotional to deal with the matter rationally right now.
We should distribute the pill online so people can still get it when they need.
Jesus fuck… so your best solution is black market abortion pills? Have you looked at history? It’s so dangerous.
I’'ll be joining protests. I’ll be canvassing for politicians and people I believe in. I’ll be supporting organizations working to repeal this and allow safe, legal, regulated medications.
I’ll not be putting my families safety and livelihood at risk by joining black market drug rings.
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Or you could invest a fifth of a third of a quarter of the emotional energy you waste taking out your anger on allies and organize to smuggle the pill in so people have access to it regardless of what the courts say.
You know, like an intelligent mature person
So start a drug ring selling black market abortion pills? LOL.
Yeah. Illegal activities like that are vitally important to maintaining liberty in the face of a tyrannical government. See prohibition in the 30’s for a much tamer example.
Technically anyone who smuggles books or reading material into North Korea (or food, for that matter) is running an illegal ring of their own, but you don’t bat an eye at that, do you?
And it would work for mifepristone, and birth control in general, because it would not only be an extremely high-demand low-supply product, but it’s also vitally important for people’s health and they need it regardless of what the law says. So it’s not just morally just to do it; we actually have an extremely large obligation to set up such a network.
