What is mifepristone? The widely used pill in the abortion rights battle at the Supreme Court

Even before the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022, anti-abortion activists and Christian conservative legal groups were taking aim at medication abortion, the most common form of abortion care in the US.

TheSupreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization revoked a constitutional right to abortion care that was affirmed by the case of Roe v Wade nearly 50 years earlier.

In the months that followed, more than a dozen states have effectively outlawed abortion care altogether, or implemented severe restrictions that have complicated access to abortion for millions of Americans. All of those states have separate laws targeting medication abortion, and at least 15 other states restrict access to the procedure.

The Supreme Court returned to abortion rights with a challenge from anti-abortion activists to reverse the federal government’s approval of mifepristone, a widely used drug for medication abortion procedures and miscarriage care.

Justices are considering a pair of cases targeting the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug, but a move to strip the government’s approval could devastate access to abortion and miscarriage care for millions of Americans across the country, including in states where access is legally protected, and potentially open the door for activist-driven challenges against other life-saving drugs.

A medication abortion procedure typically consists of a two-drug protocol of mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone is used in more than half of all abortions in the US.

The drug was first approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration in most cases up to 10 weeks of pregnancy in 2000. A vast majority of abortions occur within the first