Morning Jolt: Supreme Court May Be Reluctant to Set Off Another Abortion-Politics Bomb

WITH NOAH ROTHMAN

March 27 2024

Supreme Court May Be Reluctant to Set Off Another Abortion-Politics Bomb

This is Noah Rothman filling in for Jim Geraghty today. I'll be with you until tomorrow, too, in anticipation of Jim's triumphant restoration as the Jolt's rightful sovereign next week. There will be no Jolt on Friday ahead of the holiday weekend.

On the menu today: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case challenging the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, marketed as Mifeprex, which is commonly used in a two-drug regimen that facilitates pharmaceutical abortions.

The Abortion Fight Expands

Mifeprex works by cutting off the supply of hormones that maintain the integrity of the uterus during pregnancy, leading to the eventual expulsion of a growing fetus. But the drug's users may experience complications, some of which can be quite serious. In arguments before the court, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Erin Hawley, the wife of Senator Josh Hawley, argued that the FDA began unlawfully deconstructing critical safeguards that previously restricted access to chemical abortifacients, including lifting obligatory in-person doctor visits to insure against ectopic pregnancies, severe infections, ...

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