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.
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’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.
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.