Despite the supreme court ruling for the abortion pill, the battle is far from over

Despite the supreme court ruling for the abortion pill, the battle is far from over
Carter Sherman

Justices unanimously upheld access to mifepristone, but Missouri, Idaho and Kansas are likely to revive the case


(Guardian UK) The US supreme court has rejected an effort by anti-abortion activists to roll back access to a common abortion pill – but the battle over the pill is far from over, both in the courts and in legislatures.

In a 9-0 unanimous decision on Thursday, the US supreme court ruled that anti-abortion activists did not have standing, or the legal right to sue, over the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of mifepristone, one of two drugs typically used in a US medication abortion. But because the case turns on an interpretation of legal doctrine, the justices left open the possibility that someone else may challenge mifepristone in the future.

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a federal judge in Texas who first heard arguments in the case, has allowed Missouri, Idaho and Kansas to join the case as plaintiffs. Although the supreme court declined to let those states join the case once it was before Scotus, the states may continue litigating it at a lower-court level and evade the standing defects that doomed the case’s original plaintiffs.

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Mary Ziegler, a professor at the University of California, Davis who studies the legal history of reproduction, noted that “this ruling doesn’t preclude anyone else from bringing the same claim. ..............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/13/supreme-court-abortion-pill-mifepristone