The Supreme Court is weighing decisions made by the FDA from 2016 onward that lifted restrictions on mifepristone, including one that made it available by mail.
The court is not reviewing the original 2000 decision to approve the drug, which the plaintiffs had challenged in lower courts. Whatever the justices rule, the drug will remain available in some form.
In addition to the decision to make mifepristone available by mail, the court will also consider decisions in 2016 to extend the window in which mifepristone could be used to terminate pregnancies from seven weeks’ gestation to 10 weeks and reduce the number of in-person visits for patients from three to one. In another 2016 move, the FDA altered the dosing regimen, finding that a lower dose of mifepristone was sufficient.