On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard consolidated oral argument in two cases, the importance of which cannot be overemphasized.

The subject of both cases — Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco Laboratories v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine — is mifepristone, a medication used as part of a two-drug regimen to terminate early-stage pregnancies.

The ultimate issue to be resolved by the court is whether mifepristone, which a coalition of anti-abortion doctors and medical groups claim is "unsafe,” will remain available for purchase and use — even in states where abortion is still legal.

Attorney Ken Fulginiti frames the key legal issue here: “The plaintiffs have argued that the FDA did not act within its authority when approving mifepristone and that its approval violated certain laws. They also claim that the FDA failed to consider important safety risks and violated administrative procedures.”

Since the court overturned Roe v. Wade through the vehicle of the Dobbs case in 2022, ending women’s constitutional right to abortion, seven states have enacted restrictions on abortion and 14 have implemented complete abortion bans. Currently, more than half of all abortions that take place in the United States are medical abortions.

Thus the stakes for Tuesday’s oral argument are both historically and critically important, raising questions about medication abortion access, telehealth........

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