The 1873 Comstock Act makes it a crime to mail abortion drugs or medicine – raising legal questions about the law’s potential revival and influence over nationwide abortion laws.
In addition to evaluating new drug applications, the FDA also inspects drug manufacturing facilities.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Flickr
As the government’s oldest consumer protection agency, the FDA has long butted up against drugmakers, activists and politicians. But undermining its work could be harmful to patient health and safety.
Mifepristone is used together with another pill, misoprostol, in medication abortions.
AP Photo/Allen G. Breed
Mifepristone’s safety in medication abortions has been well established over more than two decades, but legal wrangling leaves the future of the drug hanging in the balance.
The legal battle over mifepristone could have far-reaching effects on reproductive health care.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
The Supreme Court’s ruling on mifepristone keeps the drug accessible for now, but its future is still in limbo.
The Supreme Court is the latest court to take up the question of regulating a medication used for abortions.
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
If the ruling to reverse the use of mifepristone stands, it will not only severely restrict abortion access for women throughout the US – it will have far-reaching effects on health care.