Supreme Court Rules Abortion Pill Is Still Legal In All States

In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings that would have banned or restricted the sale of mifepristone (the abortion pill). That means the pill is still legal in all 50 states.

This is a good thing, but it's not time to celebrate yet. The court did NOT rule that women have a right to the pill. They simply ruled that those who filed the case (a group of anti-abortion doctors) did not have standing to bring the case. That means the decision might be different if the case is filed again by someone the court believes does have standing.

The six right-wing justices just avoided the question in this ruling. If actually forced to rule on the legality of the abortion pill, they might vote very differently. And you can be sure the anti-abortion crowd will try again (as many times as they can). It took them 50 years to get Roe vs. Wade overturned, and they will not soon give up on trying to ban the pill. 

And banning mifepristone is just the first step. Many on the right, both in Congress and the Supreme Court, have made it clear they would like to also ban contraception. And IVF (in-vitro fertilization) is also on the chopping block. The Alabama Supreme Court has already made a ruling that stopped IVF in that state. They are not alone. The largest evangelical church has just voted to make opposition to IVF a tenet of their religious organization.

Both the political right and the religious right seem determined to restrict women's rights in this country. The overturning of Roe vs. Wade was just the beginning.  We must be prepared for a long fight on these issues as long as the Republicans have the power to block efforts to make sure women have equal rights.

Fortunately, President Biden understands this. Here is part of the statement he released about this latest decision of the court:

It does mean that mifepristone, or medication abortion, remains available and approved. Women can continue to access this medication – approved by the FDA as safe and effective more than 20 years ago. 

But let’s be clear: attacks on medication abortion are part of Republican elected officials’ extreme and dangerous agenda to ban abortion nationwide. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Republican elected officials have imposed extreme abortion bans in 21 states, some of which include zero exceptions for rape or incest. Women are being turned away from emergency rooms, or forced to go to court to plead for care that their doctor recommended or to travel hundreds of miles for care. Doctors and nurses are being threatened with jail time, including life in prison, for providing the health care they have been trained to provide. And contraception and IVF are under attack.

The stakes could not be higher for women across America. Vice President Harris and I stand with the vast majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to make deeply personal health care decisions. We will continue to fight to ensure that women in every state get the health care they need and we will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law — that is our commitment.