Reproductive Equity Now Statement After Supreme Court Dismisses Mifepristone Case on Standing
Repro advocates believe mifepristone challenges will likely come before the Court again
BOSTON (June 13, 2024) – Today, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. The Court today rejected an attempt by anti-abortion extremists to place medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone access, one of two drugs used in the gold standard protocol for medication abortion, holding the anti-abortion group did not have the legal right to bring the case before the Court. Medication abortion remains available and accessible in New England states, however, reproductive equity advocates do not believe this is the end of anti-abortion extremists’ attempts to restrict mifepristone access through legal action.
“Today’s decision from the Supreme Court allows our movement to breathe a temporary sigh of relief, but we cannot lose sight of the work ahead of us,” said Rebecca Hart Holder, President of Reproductive Equity Now. “While Donald Trump’s far-right Supreme Court dismissed this purely political attack on abortion care, we know another is right around the corner. Anti-abortion activists have made their aim quite clear: they will not stop until abortion is banned in all fifty states. That is what is at stake in the upcoming election.
Hart Holder continued, “We narrowly escaped a worst-case scenario outcome today, and we cannot let these attacks continue to advance. We must take seriously the threat anti-abortion politicians and judges pose to our reproductive freedom, even in protected states like ours. We need everyone off the sidelines and in this fight, and that means electing repro equity candidates up and down the ballot this Election Day.”
Reproductive rights advocates are still awaiting a decision in the case of Idaho v. United States, which challenges the enforcement of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) for pregnant people, and may have grave implications for emergency abortion care nationwide.
Mifepristone, taken as part of a medication abortion regimen, is a safe and effective way to terminate a pregnancy. Mifepristone has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 2000 and has since been used more than five million times across the country. Recent reports show that 63% of abortions nationwide are medication abortions, increased from 53% in 2020. Medication abortion has a 99% safety rate and more than a 95% efficacy rate. A recent study showed that medication abortion using telehealth is just as safe as in-person abortion care.
For those seeking abortion care in New England, visit Reproductive Equity Now’s New England Abortion Care Guide to find a provider near you. The Guide includes information on costs and insurance coverage for abortion care, what to expect before, during and after your procedure, and flags dangerous anti-abortion centers to avoid in your area. Patients, providers, and helpers seeking information about their legal rights to access, provide, or facilitate abortion care in Massachusetts can call the Abortion Legal Hotline at 833-309-6301.
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