On Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a federal lawsuit over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s elimination of safety measures on abortion drugs, saying the pro-life doctors who the filed suit lacked proper standing to do so.
The case — FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine — centered on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision to approve the abortion drug mifepristone — also known as RU-486 — and to eliminate key safety protocols and standards for the drug.
When the FDA first approved RU-486 in 2000, a woman seeking a drug-induced abortion was required to visit the doctor three times.
By 2016 that number was reduced from three doctor visits to one doctor visit.
In 2021, the FDA removed the in-person visit with a doctor altogether — making it possible to obtain RU-486 through the mail without a medical examination or an ultrasound.
All of this puts women and unborn children at serious risk.
Over the years Arkansas’ state legislators have enacted various laws preventing abortion drugs from being delivered by mail in Arkansas and requiring abortionists to follow basic health and safety standards for abortion drugs.
Recently the Arkansas Attorney General’s office successfully sent cease-and-desist letters to abortionists from out of state who were advertising RU-486 to Arkansans.
Today’s decision does not affect Arkansas’ pro-life laws that protect women and unborn children from abortion, but it may mean the state will have to continue to work hard to prevent abortion drugs from being delivered into Arkansas illegally.
This U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling is a setback, but this is not the only pro-life case before the nation’s highest court right now.
We fully expect pro-life victories before the U.S. Supreme Court in the coming days.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
