The Supreme Court issued its decision in Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the case that challenges the Food and Drug Administration’s removal of patient safeguards for mifepristone, on June 13, 2024. The FDA approved mifepristone back in 2000 for medical abortions. The FDA approval had specific safeguards due to the abortion pills’ serious and even deadly side effects. Over the years, the FDA relaxed these safeguards, allowing non-physicians to prescribe the drug and distribute it via mail. This deregulation faced opposition from Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine which represented associations of pro-life doctors. They argued that the FDA’s actions were arbitrary and capricious and posed significant safety risks to women.
A Unanimous Decision on Standing
In a unanimous decision, the Court held that Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine does not have standing to bring this case in federal court. The Court’s opinion, authored by Justice Kavanaugh, focused solely on the procedural issue of standing. The Court emphasized that to have standing, a plaintiff must show a direct and concrete injury caused by the defendant’s actions. The Alliance’s claims were deemed too indirect to meet this standard.
Although the holding is a setback, litigation will continue in the district court where three states— Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas—have intervened to challenge FDA’s actions. The fight against the abortion pill is far from over! Even though Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lost on the standing issue, the case sets a robust precedent for the defense of conscience rights, which is very encouraging.
The fight to protect women, adolescents, and unborn children from the harms of chemical abortion will continue, but we now have stronger caselaw defending medical rights of conscience.
