Republicans remained relatively quiet Tuesday as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) efforts to make the abortion drug mifeprizone more accessible for years.
Democratic lawmakers, in contrast to their partisan counterparts, were seemingly unanimous in slamming arguments against the drug and the FDA’s choice to make it more accessible to women.
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“Judges need to stay out of women’s health care decisions. Obtaining prescribed abortion pills is an individual’s decision, not that of the Supreme Court or politicians. This would ban abortion nationwide. Another step in the Republican fight, but I’m having none of it,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Abortion rights demonstrators speak during oral arguments before a judge to maintain widespread access to abortion pills by President Joe Biden’s administration in Washington, U.S., March 26, 2024. Participating in a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (Reuters/Evelyn Hochstein)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said: “Today’s Supreme Court case is not about the safety or effectiveness of medical abortion. The FDA has already made it clear that mifepristone is safe and effective. ” he added.
“This lawsuit is about Donald Trump and the Republican Party marching us toward a total ban on abortion nationwide,” she continued, tying the lawsuit to the upcoming general election.
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Rep. Jerry Nadler (D.N.Y.) emphasized that there is “no turning back” regarding the pending lawsuits.
“Medical abortion is safe, effective, and routine medical care,” said progressive Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
“SCOTUS must protect access to mifepristone and we must recognize abortion care as a human right,” she stressed.
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Democratic lawmakers spoke out on social media before and during the debate, but many Republicans and senators were focused elsewhere. The discrepancy between the parties’ public statements in their arguments in the lawsuit stems from the fact that abortion is expected to play a key role in the November 2024 election.
Most Republican senators declined to comment, but some particularly committed pro-life politicians spoke out.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) posted several fact-checks on X addressing “abortion industry lies.”
“I pray for the SCOTUS judges who will hear oral arguments on the FDA’s decision to relax mifepristone’s safety protocols. I hope they will prioritize women’s safety and approve this dangerous drug. I hope they reconsider.” #WomenHealthMatters” wrote Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus.
But the relative lack of public Republican comments about the incident on Tuesday does not mean that many members of Congress do not support the challenge. In fact, last month, 145 Republicans and senators signed a court brief in support of respondents, including the Hippocratic Medical Union.
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Meanwhile, 50 senators and 207 representatives previously signed a separate court brief supporting the FDA and the use of mifepristone.
Erin Hawley, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom and the wife of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), said the judge will rule on President Joe Biden’s administration’s efforts to maintain widespread access to abortion. He speaks with the media outside the U.S. Supreme Court as he watches oral arguments. Pill, outside court in Washington, USA, March 26, 2024. (Reuters/Evelyn Hochstein)
During oral arguments, Erin Hawley, an attorney for the FDA and the abortion pill challengers, asked the high court to reinstate lifted restrictions on mifepristone.
“The lower court’s decision simply restores important long-standing protections that have kept millions of women from using abortion pills,” he said, reversing many of the FDA’s actions starting in 2016 to make abortion easier to obtain. She mentioned an earlier decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that To dispense and obtain drugs.
Hawley, a senior adviser to the Alliance Defending Freedom, is also the wife of Republican Missouri state Sen. Josh Hawley.
Given the small number of parties affected, many of the court’s justices appeared skeptical about how the case would progress to the Supreme Court. “This case appears to be a classic example of turning what could have been a small lawsuit into a national legislative session based on FDA rules,” conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote. Stated.
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But Samuel Alito, a fellow conservative justice who wrote the Dobbs opinion, does. V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturns Roe. V. Wade and Clarence Thomas criticized the idea that the FDA is immune to challenge.
In his argument, Alito argued that government agencies strive for “infallibility.”
