Great Lakes Wire

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion rejecting an attempt to limit women's right to reproductive freedom. In Food and Drug Administration, et al. v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision that the plaintiffs — a group of anti-choice medical associations and individual doctors — do not have standing to challenge the United States Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of mifepristone.

"For over two decades, millions of women in Michigan and across our country have trusted mifepristone, a safe, effective medication used in the majority of abortions,” Nessel said. “Today’s ruling is a victory for every woman’s right to choose. I'm glad to see this absurd attempt by a handful of people to block access to safe health care options defeated. While we celebrate this win for bodily autonomy, this is just one battle in the never-ending fight to protect the right to an abortion. As we speak, legislatures across the nation are drafting new bans to care and lower courts are considering novel challenges to everything from birth control to IVF. My commitment to protecting reproductive freedom for women throughout our great state remains unwavering.”

Mifepristone is one drug of the two-drug regimen used for medication abortion. Medication abortion is a safe alternative to procedural abortion, and more than half of abortions in the United States are performed using medication.

The U.S. Supreme Court reasoned that because the plaintiffs do not prescribe, manufacture, sell, or advertise mifepristone or a competing drug, plaintiffs do not have standing to challenge the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations related to the same. This ruling means that pregnant women in Michigan and throughout the United States will continue to have access to mifepristone pursuant to current regulations on prescription, dispensing, and use. Moreover, this ruling should discourage future challenges by anti-abortion organizations not directly affected by abortion regulations.