Biden Administration to Ask Supreme Court to Intervene in Abortion Pill Case

The Biden administration is requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved in the case of a widely used abortion pill, officials announced on April 13.

Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “We will be seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend the FDA’s scientific judgment and protect Americans’ access to safe and effective reproductive care.”

The FDA granted approval to mifepristone, an abortion pill, back in 2000.

This month, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered the FDA to halt its approval of the drug. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers requested the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to block the order. A panel of judges on the appeals court partially overturned Kacsmaryk’s decision but kept it in place for FDA modifications made in 2016 or later.

The appeals court ruling signifies that mifepristone will continue to be available but only under requirements from 2000. The FDA lowered requirements in recent years, including permitting drug dispensation by mail.

The appeals court judges mentioned that U.S. lawyers “have failed to carry their burden at this preliminary stage to show that FDA’s actions were not arbitrary and capricious,” noting that the FDA failed to examine relevant data when it made significant changes to the pill’s requirements in 2016.

DOJ lawyers had argued that the FDA’s move to approve mifepristone, followed by its relaxation of requirements, were “wholly reasonable.” They said the district court “erred by overriding FDA’s eminently reasonable scientific judgments based on the court’s own interpretation of articles and studies.”

Garland stated that the Department of Justice “strongly disagrees” with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision.

Groups Supporting Ruling

Groups challenging the FDA over mifepristone praised the decision.

The American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said that the FDA has “repeatedly removed necessary safeguards meant to decrease the risk of serious harm to the women who consume” mifepristone.

“Today’s 5th Circuit Court of Appeals order reinstating these safeguards for Mifepristone is a first step towards reprioritizing women’s health over the interests of the abortion industry and its allies within our profession,” the association said in a statement.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the plaintiffs, stated that the ruling was correct.

“The FDA put politics ahead of the health of women and girls when it impermissi