From IVF to birth control, Supreme Court abortion pill case could spark challenges to other drugs

WASHINGTON — Vaccines, birth control pills, hormone therapies and fertility drugs would be subject to new litigation if the Supreme Court endorses a challenge to abortion pill mifepristone, pharmaceutical industry experts warn.

When the court on Tuesdayweighs whether to roll back Food and Drug Administration findings that made mifepristone more readily available, it is not just access to that particular drug, used for the majority of abortions nationwide, that is on the line.

The pharmaceutical industry has raised the alarm, telling both the justices in court filings and anyone else who will listen that giving individual federal judges the power to cast aside the agency’s scientific health and safety findings would cause chaos within the sector.

It would likely lead to litigation over other drugs, both current and those yet to be approved, on which people have strong feelings.

If the anti-abortion groups win, “anyone with an ideological disagreement, coupled with a scientifically untrained judge, could challenge the FDA’s authority,” said Amanda Banks, a physician and entrepreneur who signed a brief along with dozens of other pharmaceutical executives and companies backing the FDA.

The main pharmaceutical industry group, PhRMA, also filed a brief in support of the government.

Some activists have long railed against certain vaccines, claiming without evidence that they can cause autism. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there were largely unfounded concerns raised by vaccine skeptics that the vaccines were not safe.

Anti-abortion activists, some of whom oppose all contraceptives, have long opposed the morning-after pill, viewing it as akin to abortion despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

LGBTQ activists have called on the