Supreme Court Votes to Maintain Access to Mifepristone
With Roe v. Wade overturned and the aggressive attacks on reproductive rights by GOP officials, abortions have been less accessible, and reproductive rights varied from state to state. Abortion medication has recently hit the Supreme Court’s chopping block by way of a lower court case over mifepristone and its regulations.
Mifepristone is one of the pills used for meditation abortions and treatment for miscarriages. The case will determine the FDA regulation for mifepristone and how it can be accessed. “Mifepristone has been approved for use in this country for more than 20 years. It has been used by more than 5 million Americans and has proven to be safer than some of the most common medications—including Tylenol, penicillin, and even Viagra,” says Diana Degette, Colorado Representative.
The proposed regulations include mifepristone only being available after three in-person doctor visits. It would also stop the medication from being widely available by mail. A key change is limiting the accepted window to take the medication from the original FDA-approved 10 weeks of pregnancy to a short six weeks of pregnancy.
This shorter time frame can cause those seeking abortions to take a higher dose of the medication than the FDA suggests. These new regulations would have greatly impacted everyone’s access to medication beyond mifepristone since the case infringes upon how the FDA regulates medications and other products via mail.
The decision on this case was extended through the end of last week. Fortunately, The Supreme Court voted against these regulations proposed by the lower court, meaning that as of now Americans seeking medication abortions still have access to mifepristone.
“While this is a welcome, albeit temporary, reprieve from the initial threat to women’s ability to access abortion medication, our fight to fully protect women’s right to reproductive care is far from over. Republicans have shown, over and over, that they will not stop until they have banned abortion care nationwide,” says Colorado Representative and member of the Pro-Choice Caucus, Diana DeGette.
This is definitely a win for reproductive rights in the battle ahead.
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