Supreme Court Appears Unlikely to Upend Abortion-Pill Access

The Supreme Court appeared likely to preserve access to the abortion pill mifepristone, following arguments Tuesday in which justices suggested that protecting doctors who oppose abortion wasn’t enough justification to roll back access to the drug.

The case is the first major abortion issue to reach the Supreme Court after it overruled Roe v. Wade two years ago, rescinding women’s constitutional right to end unwanted pregnancies before fetal viability the justices had recognized in 1973. 

While the 2022 decision made abortion regulation largely a matter of state law, Tuesday’s case has the potential to restrict access to medication abortion, the most common form of the procedure, even in states which protect reproductive rights.