US supreme court to hear first major abortion case since Roe decision

Abortion is back at the US supreme court, with arguments on Tuesday in the first major case on the issue since a 6-3 majority ruled in 2022to overturn Roe v Wade and endthe national right to abortion– a decision that unleashed abortion bans throughout the country as well asa political backlash that Democrats hope will serve them in the coming presidential election.

At issue in the case is the future of mifepristone, adrug typically used in US medication abortions. The rightwing groups that brought the case are seeking to roll back measures taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand the drug’s availability in recent years.

A decision in their favor would apply nationwide, including in states that protect abortion access, and would likelymake the drug more difficult to acquire. The loosening of restrictions on mifepristone have helped mitigate the impact of post-Roe abortion bans; if those restrictions are reimposed, abortion rights groups anticipate it will become significantly more difficult to access abortions in the US.

“More than 60% of abortions in the US are medication abortions, so that would impact a substantial number of people, whether you live in a protective state or a restricted state,” said Nicole Huberfeld, a health law professor at Boston University’s School of Public Health.

Since the fall of Roe in June 2022, more than a dozen states have banned abortion. The result has been legal and medical chaos. Dozens of women have come forward to say that they were denied medically necessary abortions. Abortion clinics in states that still allow abortion areoverwhelmed by the flood of patients fleeing states with bans. More than 1m abortions were performed in the US in 2023, a record high.

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