The Supreme Court decided to block the lower court decisions in the abortion pill case

State of the Art: Fighting Abortion Legalization in the U.S.: The Case of F.D.A. Revisited

After the overturn of abortion access, legislators and activists pushed more extreme measures, including government in the exam room, to increase the odds of maternal deaths. Not satisfied with banning abortion in their home states, some lawmakers are trying to restrict access to the procedure in other states as well.

This would includechallenges to vaccines that reduce the risks of serious illness from Covid-19, after three years of political correctness fueled by disinformation. We should expect lawsuits against safe and effective hormonal birth control, including emergency contraception. Also at risk: drugs used to treat cancer and arthritis that can incidentally affect unexpected pregnancies, drugs to prevent or treat H.I.V., and medications aimed at providing gender-affirming care.

The court’s action means that for now at least, the drug will be widely available, at least in those states where abortion is legal for up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy.

Ms. Healey said the next attack was on reproductive freedom. In preparation for the possibility of the pill being pulled from the market, she last week asked the University of Massachusetts to purchase a one-year supply of mifepristone for the state.

While statements of muted celebration poured in from elected Democrats and groups supporting abortion rights, comment from Republicans and anti-abortion groups was noticeably sparser.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey of Missouri, who opposes abortion, said through a spokesman that the decision was a disappointment. In February, Mr. Bailey and Republican attorneys general in 21 states sent letters to Walgreens andCVS threatening legal action if they continued to sell it.

Mr. Bailey, who also filed a brief in support of the case against the F.D.A.’s approval of the drug, said he remains “confident in the strength of our case.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative Christian legal advocacy organization that is representing the challengers, downplayed the ruling in a statement.

The court altered a disaster that not only would endanger women’s health, but also upend our nation’s entire drug-approval process, said Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado.

Democrats used the moment to describe Republicans as extreme. The abortion issue has been politically fraught for the G.O.P., and has been blamed for losses in the midterms as well as in a recent high-profile State Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. The party has trouble agreeing on policy at the national and state levels.

The case that came before the court was brought by a fringe, extreme minority that refused to follow science or respect Americans, according to the statement from the governor of Michigan.

“Once again,” she added, “anti-abortion extremists will use the courts to push their deeply unpopular agenda and once again, we will organize the tens of millions of people who believe in safe, legal abortion to fight back.”

The case will be argued by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals on May 17. The case will most likely end up back at the Supreme Court, with the potential for a decision in the case next term.

The FDA and the 5th Circuit are poised to drop the needle in restoring abortion protections: Biden’s warning on the Comstock and Danco laws

President Biden said on Friday that the administration would continue to defend the FDA’s approval of the drug, and he called for Congress to pass a bill restoring abortion rights.

The stakes for women across the country are very high. I will continue to fight politically-driven attacks on women’s health. The American people must use their vote to give Congress the power to restore the protections of abortion, according to Biden.

The court is unlikely to completely change its position after the oral arguments. Its 42-page preliminary order is based, in part, on the Comstock Act, a law that for generations has not been enforced. The statute was enacted to prevent lewd and obscene materials from being sent and to bar the mailing of drugs used for birth control or abortion.

Both the FDA and Danco assert that were the 5th Circuit’s decision to become law, it would create “regulatory chaos across the country.” The result would be “anuntold limbo” for Danco and the FDA, who could not legally market and distribute its drug, even though it is useful to many women when they miscarry.