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Through a surprise unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has ruled to protect nationwide access to a widely used abortion pill, delivering a significant victory for reproductive rights advocates.
The 9-0 ruling rejects an effort by anti-abortion groups to pull the drug mifepristone from the U.S. market, overturning lower court orders that had suspended federal approval of the medication.
"The Court properly applied principles of judicial restraint in this case," wrote Justice Samuel Alito in the majority opinion. "The exceptional and disfavored remedy of overriding expert agency judgments should be exercised only in the rarest circumstances."
Mifepristone, when combined with a second pill called misoprostol, is used for over half of all abortions in the United States. It has been deemed safe and effective by the FDA after decades of testing and real-world use by millions of women.
Abortion rights advocates celebrated the ruling as a vital protection for reproductive healthcare access, especially in states where the procedure remains legal after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
"We are enormously relieved that the country's highest court stepped in to preserve access to safe medication abortion," said Lorie Chaiten, a lawyer with the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, which helped defend the FDA's approval.
The case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, was initially filed in Texas by a coalition of anti-abortion medical associations seeking to reverse the 23-year-old federal approval of mifepristone's use.
After a federal judge in Texas issued a ruling halting the drug's availability nationwide, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked that order and heard arguments in the case on an emergency basis.
In questioning at those April hearings, even some of the Court's most conservative justices appeared deeply skeptical of revoking medical approvals on such shaky legal grounds.
"We have only scratched the surface today about all the implications of countermanding expert agency decisions in such a controversial area," remarked Justice Brett Kavanaugh during oral arguments.
The Biden administration had vehemently opposed the alliance's efforts, warning of a "hazardous escalation" if non-expert judges could second-guess science and override regulatory decisions.
Chief Justice John Roberts concurred that judges "lack the appropriate scientific expertise" to contradict FDA conclusions unless presented with "extraordinarily special circumstances."
Anti-abortion activists decried the ruling as a "tragic loss for life" and vowed to continue pressuring the FDA to revoke or further restrict the medication's distribution.
However, legal experts believe the Supreme Court has sent a clear message affirming judicial deference to federal agencies on reasoned scientific and health policy decisions.
"Unless the justices see absolutely clear evidence of an egregious violation, they will refuse to substitute policy views for that of expert regulators," said Nicole Huberfeld, a health law professor at Boston University.
With the divisive abortion fight showing no signs of deescalating, the ruling at least temporarily removes the threat of a nationwide ban on a medication used for over two decades by American women.
