In its first abortion ruling since Amy Coney Barrett was rushed onto the Supreme Court before the November election, six justices took an unsurprising stance in a ruling Tuesday, proving that reproductive rights will be taking hits as long as the conservative majority dominates the court, which could be a very long time. With the court’s three liberals in opposition, the majority overturned a lower court decision in the case of FDA v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can reinstate its requirement making abortion by pill more difficult than medically necessary by requiring women to obtain the first of the two-pill regime in person from the provider instead of by mail. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a scathing dissent.
Although the FDA regulation has been in effect for two decades, women’s health groups, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) brought a lawsuit in May to force its suspension because of risks from traveling and personal contact posed by the coronavirus pandemic. A U.S. District Court judge’s ruling in their favor is what the Supreme Court overturned.