abortion pill
Legislators in 49 states ask SCOTUS to preserve access to abortion pill
A group of more than 600 Democratic legislators from 49 states have signed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court urging the justices to overturn an appellate court decision that would roll back access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used to safely terminate early pregnancies and treat miscarriages. The amicus brief, also called […]
Abortion rights advocates say consequences dire if SCOTUS declines to hear pill case
More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided states could set their own abortion laws, including bans, the nation’s highest court now could cut off abortion access in states where abortion is still legal. The Supreme Court began its new term this week and has yet to announce whether it will hear Alliance for […]
U.S. Justice Department asks Supreme Court to take up abortion pill case
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday asked the Supreme Court to decide whether the abortion pill should remain on the market after two lower courts issued differing opinions about its use. The case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will likely be the second time the conservative-leaning Supreme […]
Abortion pill to stay on the market until U.S. Supreme Court ruling after appeals court order
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday the abortion pill can stay on the market, but it agreed with a lower court that ultimately use should revert to prescribing and dosage instructions that were in place before 2016. That appeals court ruling will immediately be put on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to […]
Appeals court judges embrace anti-abortion speculation
America’s major medical institutions and drug policy scholars have roundly denounced as “pseudoscience” many of the claims brought by anti-abortion groups in a high-profile federal lawsuit asking the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its 23-year-old approval of mifepristone, one half of a two-drug regimen that has become the most common form of pregnancy termination […]
Three-judge panel in U.S. appeals court hears arguments in abortion pill case
NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court panel quizzed lawyers during oral arguments Wednesday over a Texas judge’s decision that could end access to the abortion pill nationwide. Observers see the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals as a legal way station for the case, in which anti-abortion groups sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, […]
Arguments on landmark abortion pill case to be heard Wednesday in appeals court
WASHINGTON — The lawsuit over access to the abortion pill goes before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Wednesday, the next step on a path that will likely end at the U.S. Supreme Court. The three-judge panel will decide whether to keep, overturn, or alter a ruling from U.S. District Court from […]
Congressional Democrats urge reversal of district court ruling on mifepristone
WASHINGTON — More than 250 congressional Democrats have filed a brief urging an appeals court to reverse a Texas federal judge’s decision to suspend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval of the abortion pill. In an emergency order, the U.S. Supreme Court in April issued a stay, meaning the abortion pill known as mifepristone will remain available throughout the […]
Anti-abortion legal strategy revives Comstock moral purity laws of late 1800s
When officials in a small New Mexico city sued the governor and attorney general over their ordinance placing restrictions on abortion clinics earlier this month, they argued that a late 19th century federal anti-obscenity law superseded state law. In March, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law a measure prohibiting public entities from interfering with […]
U.S. Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill as lawsuit continues
WASHINGTON — The abortion pill will remain available throughout the United States while a lawsuit over its approval and use works through the appeals process, the U.S. Supreme Court said Friday. The court issued a stay that ensures access to mifepristone nationwide, reversing lower court rulings about when and how the abortion medication should be available […]
After SCOTUS ruling, disappointed abortion foes vow to keep attacking abortion pill
Though the U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked an effective ban on medication abortion, anti-abortion groups are not giving up on trying to fast-track a national abortion ban. And that means continuing to try to squash nationwide access to the most common form of abortion post-Roe, by whatever means necessary. “Obviously, the pro life community […]
U.S. Supreme Court holds off on abortion pill ruling until midnight Friday
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito postponed a ruling on access to the abortion pill until Friday as the high court continues considering arguments from anti-abortion organizations and the federal government. Alito’s two-day-long pause, issued Wednesday, keeps a ruling from U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on […]