Mifepristone challenge is about more than abortion access — it’s about keeping ideological interests out of fact-based decision making - The Boston Globe

Mifepristone challenge is about more than abortion access — it’s about keeping ideological interests out of fact-based decision making - The Boston Globe

By The Editorial BoardUpdated December 20, 2023, 4:00 a.m.

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Abortion opponents want the court to override the judgement of federal health regulators about the circumstances under which patients can receive medication abortions.GABRIELA BHASKAR/NYT

Before the Supreme Court recessed for the holidays, it teed up a frontal attack not only on access to safe abortion care in America, but also on the ability of the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that all Americans can get safe, effective medical treatments of all kinds.

By taking up a case that will determine the future availability of mifepristone, half of the two-drug medical abortion regimen that has been administered for more than two decades, the court didn’t just place reproductive rights squarely on its docket for the second time in three years. More broadly, it will determine whether the judgment of FDA experts, based on a broad body of medical scientific research, can be second-guessed in court on the basis of political and religious ideology.