US supreme court appears sceptical of arguments against abortion drug

Justices on the US supreme court appeared sceptical yesterday that anti-abortion groups and doctors seeking to limit access to the abortion pill have the legal standing needed to pursue the case, in the first major abortion decision to reach the court since the overturning of Roe v Wade.

- Carter Sherman

That 6-3 majority decision in 2022 ended the national right to abortion and unleashed abortion bans throughout the country as well as a political backlash that Democrats hope will serve them in the coming presidential election.

At the heart of the case is the future of mifepristone, a drug typically used in US medication abortions.

The right-wing groups that brought the case argued that the justices should roll back measures taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand the drug's availability in recent years.

A decision in the anti-abortion doctors' favour would apply nationwide, including in states that protect abortion access, and would likely make the drug more difficult to acquire.

Medication abortion now accounts for almost two-thirds of abortions performed in the US.