{"id":37721,"date":"2024-06-14T20:15:12","date_gmt":"2024-06-15T00:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=37721"},"modified":"2024-06-17T20:43:49","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T00:43:49","slug":"cronkite-news-unanimous-ruling-from-supreme-court-upholds-use-of-abortion-drug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/06\/14\/cronkite-news-unanimous-ruling-from-supreme-court-upholds-use-of-abortion-drug\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Unanimous ruling from Supreme Court upholds use of abortion drug"},"content":{"rendered":" <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/supremecourt-41\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" data-attachment-id=\"31072\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/06\/14\/cronkite-news-unanimous-ruling-from-supreme-court-upholds-use-of-abortion-drug\/supremecourt-41\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/31\/SupremeCourt-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1920\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 14 Pro Max&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1686241192&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;6.86&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;6.25E-5&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"SupremeCourt\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;U.S. Supreme Court&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Tourists gather beneath a hazy sky in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C, on June 8, 2023, on a day where the air quality was considered &amp;#8220;Hazardous&amp;#8221; in the nation&amp;#8217;s capital. Due to   wildfires in Canada, smoke spread  over a wide swath of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States. Photo by Indianz.Com &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/&quot;&gt;(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/31\/SupremeCourt-1024x768.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/31\/SupremeCourt-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. Supreme Court\"  class=\"size-full wp-image-31072\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Photo by Indianz.Com <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Widely used abortion drug remains legal on 9-0 vote<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\"> Supreme Court says anti-abortion doctors lack standing to challenge mifepristone<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Friday, June 14, 2024<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Morgan Kubasko <\/div>\r\n<DIV class=source>Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n<DIV class=source-website><A \r\nhref=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nWASHINGTON &#8212; A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court upheld access to a widely used abortion drug Thursday, tossing out an effort to take mifepristone off the market on grounds that the anti-abortion doctors who brought the case lack legal standing to sue.<P><\/P>\r\nThe drug is used in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions available.<P><\/P>\r\nThe justices \u2013 splintered ideologically in other abortion cases \u2013 all agreed that the doctors who brought this suit couldn\u2019t show they\u2019d suffered any personal harm from keeping mifepristone on the market.<P><\/P>\r\n \r\n\u201cA plaintiff\u2019s desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue,\u201d Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the ruling. \u201cThe plaintiff doctors and medical associations do not prescribe or use mifepristone. And FDA has not required the plaintiffs to do anything or to refrain from doing anything.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cBecause the plaintiffs do not use mifepristone, they obviously can suffer no physical injuries from FDA\u2019s actions relaxing regulation of mifepristone,\u201d the ruling said.<P><\/P>\r\nBut the ruling left open the possibility of challenges to mifepristone from other potential plaintiffs, including states.<P><\/P>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1850541216&#038;color=%23ff5500&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=true&#038;show_comments=false&#038;show_user=false&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;show_teaser=false\"><\/iframe> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Indianz.Com Audio: <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/indianz\/fda-v-alliance-hippocratic-medicine\" title=\"FDA v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FDA v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nArizona Attorney General Kris Mayes lauded the high court for overturning a \u201cdisastrous\u201d effort by a lower court to ban mifepristone. The \u201cdecision will save lives and avoid widespread confusion among providers, distributors, pharmacies, and patients,\u201d she said in a written statement.<P><\/P>\r\nPresident Joe Biden, attending a summit in Italy, said that while the ruling represented a win for reproductive rights, \u201cit does not change the fact that the Supreme Court overturned <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em> two years ago.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cIt does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states,\u201d Biden said in a statement issued by the White House.<P><\/P>\r\nAnti-abortion groups said they were disappointed at the ruling.<P><\/P>\r\nErin Hawley, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, said the group will continue to seek ways to take the drug off the market.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cWhile we\u2019re disappointed with the court\u2019s decision, we will continue to advocate for women and work to restore commonsense safeguards for abortion drugs\u2014like an initial office visit to screen for ectopic pregnancies,\u201d she said in a written statement.<P><\/P>\r\nThe high court ended nearly a half-century of constitutional protection for abortion rights in June 2022, in <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health<\/em>. The ruling, which overturned <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em>, put regulation of abortion back to state control for the first time since 1973.<P><\/P>\r\nRoe halted enforcement of state abortion bans that were in effect at the time, including a near-total Arizona ban enacted in 1864.<P><\/P>\r\nAhead of the widely anticipated end to Roe, Arizona\u2019s governor at the time, Republican Doug Ducey, signed a law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That ban remains in effect.<P><\/P>\r\nEarlier this year, the Legislature repealed a near-total ban enacted in 1864, before statehood. The current governor, Democrat Katie Hobbs, <a href=\"https:\/\/azgovernor.gov\/office-arizona-governor\/news\/2024\/05\/governor-katie-hobbs-signs-bill-law-officially-repealing-1864\">signed the repeal on May 2<\/a>.<P><\/P>\r\nA <a href=\"https:\/\/societyfp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WeCount-report-6-May-2024-Dec-2023-data_Final.pdf\">report last month<\/a> from the Society of Family Planning, which tracks abortions nationwide, shows there were 1,470 abortions in Arizona in the month before the Dobbs ruling, and 1,020 last December, the latest month for which it has data.<P><\/P>\r\nMuch of the fight since Dobbs has taken place in state legislatures. All but nine states have some restrictions, including 14 states with bans that start at conception. Arizona bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.<P><\/P>\r\nAnti-abortion groups have looked for new ways to restrict access, including the case decided Thursday.<P><\/P>\r\nA group of anti-abortion doctors called Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine went to federal court to challenge the way the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone in 2000.<P><\/P>\r\nScottsdale-based advocacy law firm Alliance Defending Freedom represented the group. In court, they asserted the FDA failed to thoroughly examine evidence regarding the drug\u2019s safety, and exceeded its authority by later expanding access. Defenders of the drug point to a 2007 law that effectively ratified the FDA\u2019s process.<P><\/P>\r\nIn 2016 the FDA extended the use of mifepristone from seven to 10 weeks into a pregnancy, and scaled back requirements for in-person doctor visits for a woman seeking a drug-induced abortion.<P><\/P>\r\nIn 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA allowed delivery by mail, lifting a requirement for in-person distribution by a prescriber.<P><\/P>\r\nSince Dobbs, seven states &#8212; California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Washington &#8212; adopted \u201cshield laws\u201d that protect telehealth providers who prescribe and ship abortion pills to women in states with bans.<P><\/P>\r\nThe challenge tossed out Thursday was filed five months after the Dobbs ruling.<P><\/P>\r\nThe Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine filed the lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas, where it was assigned to the only judge in that federal courthouse: Trump-appointee Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, whose anti-abortion views were well-known.<P><\/P>\r\nThe judge issued a ruling in April 2023 to suspend the FDA\u2019s initial approval of mifepristone and its actions in 2016 and 2021, which he called \u201carbitrary\u201d and unsupported by clinical data.<P><\/P>\r\nThe Department of Justice appealed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, a conservative court that handles cases from Texas, partially overturned the lower court. While the initial drug approval would stand, so would most of the lower court\u2019s rollback of FDA changes from 2016 and 2021.<P><\/P>\r\nThe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/oral_arguments\/audio\/2023\/23-235\">Supreme Court heard arguments on March 26<\/a> that focused heavily on the plaintiffs\u2019 standing under Article III of the Constitution.<P><\/P>\r\nJustices from both the conservative and liberal wings of the court were openly skeptical of claims that anti-abortion doctors suffer harm from the availability of mifepristone. By law, none could be compelled to prescribe it or to otherwise participate in an abortion, justices pointed out.<P><\/P>\r\nThat skepticism telegraphed by the court in oral arguments carried over into the ruling.<P><\/P>\r\nThe ruling stated that the purpose of standing is to ensure that only affected parties can press complaints to the government. The court found that the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine was challenging the FDA\u2019s regulations of others, as they do not prescribe or use mifepristone.<P><\/P>\r\nThe court stated that the group\u2019s pro-life beliefs were not sufficient to grant them standing.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThis ruling rightfully rejects extremist\u2019s efforts to restrict Americans\u2019 access to abortion medication,\u201d Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepRaulGrijalva\/status\/1801275070179922050\">posted on X<\/a>.<P><\/P>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">U.S. Supreme Court Decision<\/div>\r\n<a href=https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/23pdf\/23-235_n7ip.pdf>FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine<\/a> (June 13, 2024)\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<STRONG>For more stories from Cronkite News, visit <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=client\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<HR><EM>Note: This story originally <a href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2024\/06\/13\/abortion-drug-mifepristone-access-remains-legal-supreme-court\/\">appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>.  It  is published via a <A href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/\">Creative  Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkite.asu.edu\/\">Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at <A href=\"https:\/\/www.asu.edu\">Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM><HR>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court upheld access to a widely used abortion drug, tossing out an effort to take mifepristone off the market across the country.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13,1,14],"tags":[612,42,828,38,400,46,346,362,945,53,4224,4974,1244,470,34,126,84,27,4975,314],"class_list":["post-37721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-5th-circuit","tag-arizona","tag-brett-kavanaugh","tag-california","tag-colorado","tag-cronkite-news","tag-dc","tag-doj","tag-fda","tag-joe-biden","tag-katie-hobbs","tag-kris-mayes","tag-maine","tag-massachusetts","tag-new-york","tag-raul-grijalva","tag-supreme-court","tag-texas","tag-vermont","tag-washington","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/31\/SupremeCourt-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-9Op","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37721"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37728,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37721\/revisions\/37728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}