Supreme Court rejects abortion pill challenge

Protesters support abortion medication outside U.S. Supreme Court

Since the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, 14 states have criminalized abortion

(Image credit: Michael Nigro / Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

published 14 June 2024

What happened

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a push by anti-abortion groups to restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone, ruling unanimously that plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the case.

The anti-abortion doctors named as plaintiffs have "sincere legal, moral, ideological and policy objections" to the widely available drug, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the ruling, but their "desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue." Thursday's ruling was the "first major abortion issue to come before the court since its 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade," The Wall Street Journal said. Rejecting the mifepristone challenge on procedural grounds allowed the justices to find "common ground."

Thursday's ruling is "not a 'win' for abortion," Nancy Northup at the Center for Reproductive Rights said in a statement. It simply "maintains the status quo, which is a dire public health crisis in which 14 states have criminalized abortion." This was a "sad day for all who value women's health and unborn children's lives," Katie Daniel at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said to the BBC. But "the fight to stop dangerous mail-order abortion drugs is not over."

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.