What the Supreme Court ruling means for abortion access and what comes next

[0:00] Today, the Supreme Court temporarily allowed continued nationwide access to abortion medication [0:06] that's often distributed by mail. The court issued a one-week stay on a lower court's ruling [0:11] that would have led to sweeping changes in how mifepristone, one of the two drugs commonly used, [0:16] can be prescribed. That ruling would require an in-person doctor's visit before the pills [0:21] could be prescribed. For more on the ruling and what comes next, I'm joined now by Mary Ziegler. [0:25] She's a professor at the University of California Davis School of Law. Mary Ziegler, welcome back to [0:30] the NewsHour. So just walk us through here exactly what the Supreme Court temporarily paused today. [0:37] What was the federal court's decision that was put on hold? So the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals [0:42] had put in immediate stop nationwide telehealth access to the pill mifepristone, which is used [0:48] in more than two-thirds of all abortions nationwide. And we have data to suggest that at least a quarter, [0:54] more than a quarter of all abortions nationwide now involve telehealth. That number is likely an [0:59] undercount, given that some of these procedures are illegal. So we were talking about a significant [1:04] number of people losing access to abortion, particularly in states where abortion is a crime [1:10] and where patients were relying on that telehealth access. [1:14] So the Supreme Court issued a one-week hold, essentially restores access to mifepristone through [1:19] telehealth and mail and through pharmacies. What happens during that week and what happens when the week is [1:24] over? Well, this week should be pretty quiet. The one thing we're watching this week is that [1:30] we're waiting to see what the Trump administration is going to do. This is an unusual case because [1:35] Louisiana, a Republican state, is suing the Trump FDA essentially to force a change on the regulations [1:40] governing mifepristone. And we have yet to hear what the Trump administration is going to say. [1:45] So we're waiting to see how the Trump administration tries to walk that tightrope between [1:49] pleasing base voters on the one hand and not potentially alienating swing voters shortly [1:55] before a midterm. We don't really know what to expect from the Supreme Court once Monday rolls [2:01] around. The court could continue an administrative stay as this case returns to the lower courts. [2:07] The justices could either preview that it thinks either Louisiana or the drug manufacturers, [2:14] in this case, Danko and Jen Biopro, are likely to win later and issue a ruling on that basis. [2:19] Or the court could schedule oral argument in this case, either before it recesses for the summer or [2:25] even in the fall. So there are a lot of different options on the table, and we really frankly don't [2:29] know what to expect. If the lower court's ruling is allowed to go back into place essentially after the [2:35] week, tell us a little bit more about what that potential impact could be. What would that look like? [2:39] Well, it would really put an end to kind of what has been the status quo on abortion in the United [2:44] States since 2022. We have seen 22 states in the District of Columbia introduce Shia laws, [2:50] which protect their residents from out-of-state criminal and civil consequences. And doctors in [2:55] states like California and New York have taken advantage by mailing pills into states where abortion [3:00] is a crime. And the upshot has been that abortion numbers in those states really haven't declined, [3:04] even though Roe v. Wade was overturned now years ago. So I think that the result would be that [3:11] abortion bans in those states would be much easier to enforce than had previously been the case. [3:16] And there would be impacts in states where abortion is legal as well. In those states, [3:22] plenty of counties don't have an abortion clinic. That number, of course, has increased since the big, [3:27] beautiful bill passed. So we would see people having to return to abortion clinics, which would be [3:33] much more challenging for some patients, and certainly in states with abortion bans, [3:37] sometimes impossible. [3:38] AMNA NAWAZ- We know in the years since Roe was overturned, we have seen a number of [3:42] court challenges to abortion bans in Republican-led states, to broader protections in Democrat-led [3:47] states. Is there anything that you have seen that gives you any sense of how the Supreme Court [3:51] might end up ruling on this? [3:53] DR. JANE FERGUSON- We really don't know. So the only tea leaf we can read is that there [3:58] was a similar case to this one in 2024, when the court unanimously dismissed a case, [4:03] a similar challenge to Mifepristone based on standing. And that's been the hope of both [4:07] the Food and Drug Administration in this case, as well as those drug manufacturers. So it's [4:12] possible that we'll see the court make the same move. If the court doesn't resolve this case on [4:17] standing, we have no idea what they're going to do because we haven't heard much from the justices [4:22] on this. It's complicated even further by the fact that Louisiana has raised additional arguments [4:27] in the briefing earlier in this case than the ones resolved by the Fifth Circuit, which focused [4:32] only on whether the FDA had adequately reviewed the science in permitting telehealth. Louisiana is [4:39] also trying to get the court to weigh in on whether a 19th century law called the Comstock Act operates [4:44] as a ban on mailing any abortion drug or paraphernalia, which would be an even more explosive [4:50] outcome in some ways. So we don't know which question the court's going to be interested in. [4:54] We don't know if this is going to be resolved on standing or go into the merits. And if it goes into [4:59] the merits, we don't know how the court is going to feel about it, other than, of course, that we [5:02] have a conservative supermajority, the same majority that overturned Roe v. Wade. But that only tells you [5:08] so much. All right. That is Mary Ziegler of the University of California, Davis School of Law. [5:13] Mary, thank you so much. Good to speak with you. Thanks for having me. [5:16] Support journalism you trust. Support PBS News. Donate now or even better, start a monthly contribution today.