OLYMPIA, Wash. — An abortion pill remains on the market but the U.S. Supreme Court is set to make a ruling on the access to mifepristone Friday after an uncommon move to delay the decision.
“For pro-choice advocates, it is concerning," said Jessica West, a lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law. "It raises something of a flag that the court is looking to do something perhaps more substantive."
At the center of the issue, a Texas judge’s ruling earlier this month suspended the FDA’s approval of mifepristone and led to legal challenges.
Hours after the Texas ruling, a federal judge in eastern Washington protected the drug, but that injunction may not stand if SCOTUS sides with Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.
“It's not entirely clear that Judge Rice's opinion out of the eastern district of Washington really protects those 17 states,” West said.
Last week, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, covering three southern states, allowed for partial access to the abortion pill but suspended how it’s distributed by not allowing the generic version of the drug to be mailed.
Legal experts said it’s not unusual for SCOTUS to get involved especially with conflicting rulings in Texas and eastern Washington.
“(The FDA) are vulnerable to an issuance of contempt by either of those courts if they don’t do something and they've been ordered to do two different things, so they are in a bind as a federal agency,” West said.
Regardless of if SCOTUS upholds Texas or lower court rulings, it will have implications for Washington state.
“It's going to impact Washington state 100%. It would prevent the mailing of mifepristone which is how it gets shipped and potentially all other kinds of abortion procedural equipment,” West said.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than half of U.S. abortions are done with pills.
This is being called the biggest challenge to abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade 10 months ago.
“In the Dobbs opinion Justice Alito says we're hoping this resolves things and settles the issue of abortion. It does not,” West said.
Legal experts said regardless of the high court’s decision legal battles over abortion access are far from over.
“It’s really opened up a ginormous Pandora's box of chaos for the medical arena, especially for pregnant people,” West said.