WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court decided unanimously on Thursday to maintain access to the abortion pill mifepristone, a pill used in the most common way to terminate a pregnancy. The medicine was in almost two-thirds of all abortions in the United States last year.
The ruling is the court’s first abortion decision since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.
The judges ruled that abortion opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the drug’s approval by the federal Food and Drug Administration, mifepristoneand the FDA’s subsequent actions to facilitate access to it.
The case had threatened to restrict access to mifepristone nationwide, including in states where abortion remains legal.
Currently:
— The US Supreme Court just ruled on Mifepristone. How safe is the abortion pill?
– A common abortion pill will go before the US Supreme Court. Here you can read how mifepristone works
– What is it about? The central dispute was whether the Food and Drug Administration overlooked serious safety concerns when it made it easier to obtain mifepristone
Here’s the latest:
Since 2000, more than 6 million people have used mifepristone. Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone and prepares the uterus to respond to the contraction-inducing effect of a second drug, misoprostol. The two-drug regimen has been used to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks’ gestation.
The Supreme Court unanimously retained access to a drug in which was used on Thursday almost two-thirds of all abortions in the US last year, in the court’s first abortion decision since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.
The judges ruled that abortion opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the drug’s approval by the federal Food and Drug Administration, mifepristoneand the FDA’s subsequent actions to facilitate access to it.
The case had threatened to restrict access to mifepristone nationwide, including in states where abortion remains legal.