WASHINGTON, D.C., June 13, 2024 —The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday to retain the existing lack of safety standards for the abortion pill, based on procedural grounds. This is the court’s first major abortion-related ruling since Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in 2022.
In the case, U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the courtdetermined that a group of pro-life doctors who brought the lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration did not have sufficient cause to do so.
Brent Leatherwood, president of the ERLC, commented on the court’s decision.
“The court is sending a clear signal it would prefer this question be settled elsewhere. Unfortunately, by not ruling on the merits and allowing this drug to remain available on procedural grounds, the court is affording more time for the abortion industry to target vulnerable mothers with these harmful chemicals. Preborn lives will inevitably be lost as a result. That is what makes today’s loss so heartbreaking.
“While, of course, new legal challenges may emerge, and the ERLC will look for opportunities to engage, we all should be resolute in our efforts to elect leaders and support legislative solutions that protect innocent lives and defend mothers against the predatory abortion industry.”
The Supreme Court did not reach a decision on the merits of prior safety standards related to mifepristone and the FDA removal of such standards. Instead, the court has determined to allow the loosened safety standards to remain in place and threw out the case on procedural grounds known as standing.
In March, the ERLC filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court arguing:
- Chemical abortion causes significant physical harm to women;
- Abortion psychologically damages women;
- Unfettered access to mifepristone will likely increase reproductive coercion and crimes against pregnant women;
- All human life is valuable and must be protected from the dangers of mifepristone.
The ERLC will continue working towards a day when abortion in any form is both illegal and unthinkable. More analysis is available at erlc.com.
