LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a statement early this morning on the day that the United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, a case challenging the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a commonly used abortion medication. Arguments began at 10 a.m. and a decision is not expected until the summer.

How many American women use the “abortion pill”?

Almost two-thirds of American women who abort their babies opt for a two-drug pill combination of mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone is what Planned Parenthood calls “the abortion pill” and it stops the pregnancy from growing.

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Mifepristone empties out a woman’s uterus. The process involves a lot of cramping and bleeding and is almost always 100% successful in terminating a pregnancy.

Whitmer highlighted the significance of mifepristone as a safe and frequently prescribed abortion medication in her statement and described the case as an assault on women’s rights by saying, “If the anti-reproductive freedom majority on SCOTUS bans mifepristone, or reimposes medically unnecessary restrictions on its use, it will impede access to the most commonly used method of abortion for every woman in American. Even in states where abortion rights are protected like Michigan, the decision would severely limit people’s right to make one of the most important decisions about their family in consultation with their doctor.”

Gov. Whitmer calls the case an assault on reproductive health.

Gov. Whitmer continued to say in her statement, “Amid a nationwide assault on our reproductive health, today’s case is yet another attempt by partisan, out-of-touch extremists to strip away our freedoms. They think they have found a sympathetic audience in the same Supreme Court that repealed Roe, leaving more than a third of U.S. women living in states with abortion bans. We’ve worked hard to ensure that’s not the case in Michigan. We will watch this case closely and keep fighting like hell.”

The case before the Supreme Court originated from a ruling by a Trump-appointed judge in Texas, which challenged the FDA’s authorization of mifepristone. This ruling, partially upheld by a mostly Trump-appointed panel of the Fifth Circuit, has now reached the Supreme Court on appeal.

Gov. Whitmer warned that a decision against the FDA could jeopardize access to mifepristone for American women, potentially leading to its removal from the market nationwide.

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She criticized the influence of unelected judges with “extreme” views on abortion, appointed by the Trump administration, whose decisions could effectively ban mifepristone across the country. Whitmer noted that while Michigan women may still access abortion care, restrictions on mifepristone would disrupt the patient-provider relationship, hindering individuals’ ability to make personalized decisions about their reproductive health.

The decision could impact more than just the mifepristone pill.

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However, the stakes of this court case extend beyond the abortion pill and abortion rights. It concerns the entirety of the FDA’s authority to approve drugs and maintain ongoing safety evaluations – a framework long esteemed as the benchmark for both safety and innovation.

The FDA’s original approval of the pill, granted almost twenty-five years ago, is no longer under dispute. Instead, the focus now lies on the conditions initially imposed on the drug, many of which have been lifted. Supporting the FDA in this matter are nearly all prominent medical associations nationwide, along with pharmaceutical and biotech companies of all sizes. Opposing them is the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, arguing that the FDA’s relaxation of regulations is unwarranted and poses safety risks.