Pro-life advocates have a backup plan in case the Supreme Court strikes down mifepristone limitations

Anti-abortion activists have their backup strategies already in place if the Supreme Court decides not to reverse the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.  

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the lawsuit Tuesday, which was filed by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in an attempt to reverse the FDA’s approval of the pill. Anti-abortion activists and elected officials say they have a long list of alternative strategies in the event that the high court sides with the FDA. Those strategies include legislation, putting pressure on pharmacies distributing the drug, and turning to environmental and wildlife laws. 

“We’re not putting all our chips on this one case,” Jesse Southerland, the federal policy director for Americans United for Life, told Politico. “Since chemical abortion is making up the majority of abortions, it has to be a priority.”  

Students for Life of America, an anti-abortion organization, rallied outside of Walgreens’s Chicago headquarters on Tuesday after it was announced the abortion pill would be distributed at Walgreens locations across the country. The group has also formed petitions asking the Environmental Protection Agency to look into the environmental effects of women taking the drug at home.

If the petitions are rejected by the agency, the group has said it will sue.  

Another strategy that anti-abortion groups are turning toward is relying on Republicans to hold on to their slim majority in the House and Senate in order to pass legislation that would restrict abortion and mifepristone distribution. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) proposed a bill last year, supported by anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, that would prevent mifepristone from being distributed by mail.    

“Chemical, at-home abortions pose the risk of dangerous complications for mothers, yet the FDA has proceeded to eliminate critical health and safety requirements for their use,” Young said in a statement. 

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Anti-abortion activists could be in a better position to influence restrictions on the drug and abortions if Republicans can hang on to their majorities in the House and Senate and if former President Donald Trump is reelected.  

In 2023, about 63% of abortions in the United States used mifepristone, 15 states restricted abortion through medication, and 14 states had a near-total ban on abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute.