- Title: US abortion pill ruling to have major political impact, experts predict
- Date: 14th December 2023
- Summary: PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 11, 2022) (REUTERS) HEALTH CARE WORKER AT WOMEN'S CLINIC CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (FILE - APRIL 20, 2023) (REUTERS) MIFEPRISTONE PILL PACKAGE BEING OPENED AT WOMEN'S HEALTH CLINIC PARTIAL VIEW OF WOMAN WITH MIFEPRISTONE PILL IN HER HAND
- Embargoed: 28th December 2023 00:47
- Keywords: ELAINE KAMARCK GLENN COHEN SCOTUS Supreme Court abortion abortion pill mifepristone reproductive health
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA00F572913122023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2022 ended its recognition of a constitutional right to abortion, on Wednesday (December 13) agreed to hear a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to preserve broad access to the abortion pill, setting up another major ruling on reproductive rights set to come in a presidential election year.
Harvard law professor I. Glenn Cohen, who helped author an amicus brief in the case, said the court's decision to hear the case and not to hear a separate appeal from an anti-abortion group challenging the FDA's approval of the drug, could be good news for activists who want legalized abortion.
”I think it's probably good news for the federal government and for Danco, the company, and for women who want access to mifepristone across the United States," he told Reuters in an interview.
The justices took up the administration's appeal of an August decision by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that would curb how the pill, called mifepristone, is delivered and distributed, barring telemedicine prescriptions and shipments by mail of the drug. The high court also agreed to hear an appeal by the drug's manufacturer, Danco Laboratories.
The case could put at risk the authority of the FDA, the federal agency that signs off on the safety of food products, drugs and medical devices. At issue are matters such as through what week of pregnancy the drugs can be used, whether a physician has to administer it and whether or not the patient must visit a health care provider in person, Cohen explained, saying the case is 'exceptional'.
"This is an aggressive anti-abortion push," he said. "I think it's just really important to kind of focus on how exceptional what's going on in this case is and what how motivated it is by antipathy towards abortion and abortion access in this country."
Abortion rights are a divisive issue in the 2024 presidential race, as Biden, a Democrat who champions abortion rights, campaigns for re-election. Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden, appointed three members of the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority - all three of whom voted to overturn Roe in the 2022 decision.
Since last year's Supreme Court decision, at least 14 U.S. states have put in place outright abortion bans while many others prohibit abortion after a certain duration of pregnancy.
Cohen pointed out that even if the court rules that the parties don't have standing, there is another issue looming that might be implicated in cases involving mifepristone.
Brookings Institution senior fellow Elaine Kamarck said the implications of this case being heard in an election year are substantial and she predicts that the legal push to restrict abortions will motivate voters to support President Biden next November.
“I think the political implications are mammoth. And I think that all through this, ever since they decided against Rove v Wade, people have underestimated just how important this is to most Americans, especially to American women," she said.
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