Abortion access news you may have missed as Supreme Court preserves access to mifepristone

On Friday the Supreme Court preserved access to a widely used key abortion drug, mifepristone. The high court halted restrictions imposed by lower courts that would have limited expanded access to the drug, which means its accessibility will remain unchanged, at least for now.

The lawsuit was filed in Amarillo, Texas, by Alliance Defending Freedom, a faith-based organization that has long sought to have abortion outlawed nationwide. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, sided with the plaintiffs and ruled earlier this month that the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone in 2000 was improper under its authority. His ruling also applies to subsequent decisions the FDA made to make medication abortion more accessible.

In response, the Biden administration filed its notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana, which is considered one of the most conservative in the country.

The Fifth Circuit disagreed with Kacsmaryk’s ruling, finding that the statute of limitations had passed on the plaintiff’s challenging the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, but that it was within the statute of limitations to challenge decisions the FDA made in 2016 and thereafter to make the drug more accessible. This included extending the window when the drug could be used during pregnancy from seven to 10 weeks, and allowing the drug to be prescribed through telehealth visits and via mail.

In response, the Justice Department and the manufacturer of mifepristone, Danco Laboratories, asked the Supreme Court to freeze the Fifth Circuit’s decision and preserve the status quo. The Supreme Court originally said that the Fifth Circuit order was suspended until April 19, but then extended the stay with another self-imposed deadline until April 21, giving no further context.

Since the highly anticipated interim decision dominated headlines this week, here are some other headlines on the state of abortion access you might have missed.

Anti-abortion group gets creative

Students for Life of America, an anti-abortion group, added to the mounting challenges to mifepristone Wednesday when they filed a citizen petition to the FDA, which was first shared with Politico.

The group argues that when the FDA approved mifepristone 23 years ago, it failed to examine the effects that at-home medication abortions could have on the environment, saying that the high volume of people using abortion drugs and flushing fetal remains down the toilet could be having harmful effects on the environment.

The petition requests that the approval of mifepristone be halted pending further study on its environmental impact and whether it poses any hazards to “endangered or threatened species or designated critical habitats.”

The group also claims, “It is likely that the nation’s drinking water is contaminated in some appreciable amount by the increasing abundance of Mifepristone and human remains.”

Environmental scientists argue there is no evidence abortion drugs have a negative impact on the environment and that an extremely small amount of pharmaceutical drugs are found in wastewater.

The Students for Life of America plan to sue if the FDA ignores or rejects the citizen petition within 180 days, according to Politico.

Republicans tried and failed to undo abortion care at Veterans Affairs locations

In a victory for the Biden administration, the Democratic-controlled Senate rejected a Republican resolution on Wednesday that sought to reverse expanded abortion services for veterans provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The rule, implemented last September in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, provides abortion counseling and abortions in certain circumstances — only in cases of rape, incest or when the life or health of the pregnant patient is endangered — to veterans and eligible family members, including in states where abortions are banned.

The GOP measure to reverse the rule was introduced by Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville. It was rejected in a 51-48 vote. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted with Democrats, while Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia sided with Republicans and argued that the policy change should be made by legislation through Congress, not through the executive branch.

Tuberville said the rule is “illegal and wrong” and that “taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for abortions.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a veteran who lost her legs in Iraq in 2004, sharply criticized the measure from her Republican colleagues, saying they “were certainly all right with me making the choice to use my body as I saw fit when I signed up to fight wars on this country’s behalf." She added, “When did they think I lost the competence to make decisions about my uterus that they thought I had about using my arms and legs?”

2 bills vetoed in Kansas

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill approved by the Republican-controlled legislature that would have required clinics to tell patients that medication abortions can be reversed once they have been initiated, a claim that is unproven and has been disputed by medical experts.

The bill would have required a notice to be posted wherever medication abortions are provided, letting patients know “it may be possible to reverse” a medication abortion with progesterone if only one of two pills in the regimen has been taken. Supporters of the bill say it is meant to inform women that they have options, in case they regret starting an abortion.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that claims of “reversal” of the effects of the mifepristone with progesterone “are not based on science and do not meet clinical standards.”

It’s the second time this month that the governor has vetoed anti-abortion legislation. Despite being a Republican-leaning state, Kansas voters soundly rejected an August 2022 referendum that would have weakened abortion protections.

“Kansans made clear that they believe personal healthcare decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor, not politicians in Topeka,” Kelly said in a short statement Wednesday.

Last week, Kelly also rejected a bill that could have penalized doctors with criminal charges and lawsuits for not providing reasonable care for infants who are delivered alive during certain types of abortions. The bill would have applied to “botched” or “unsuccessful” abortion, as well as to instances involving a severe medical issue, when doctors have to induce labor to deliver a fetus that is expected to die instantly or within minutes once outside the womb.

Republican lawmakers, who have a two-thirds supermajority, are expected to try to override both vetoes in a vote at the end of the month.

Bills signed in Colorado

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed bills this week to further protect abortion rights, along with gender-affirming care. The governor is seeking to make the state a safe haven, since access to abortion is restricted in surrounding GOP-led states like Wyoming and Oklahoma, which recently passed abortion bans.

The main purpose of the legislation is to ensure that people from surrounding states and beyond can go to the Centennial State to have an abortion, or receive gender-affirming care, without the fear of being prosecuted.

Idaho, which has bans on abortion or transgender care, now criminalizes traveling to other states for such health care, and other conservative states with such bans are expected to follow suit.

Democratic-led New Mexico, Colorado’s southern neighbor, signed a similar abortion bill earlier this year.