After ruling, the future of abortion pills rests with Biden or Trump.The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday not to impose restrictions on a key abortion drug, while a victory for abortion rights advocates, crystallizes the stakes of the next presidential election for access nationwide.Because a president has enormous power to influence federal agencies that oversee abortion policy, a potential Trump administration could unilaterally choose to do what the Supreme Court did not: impose strict restrictions on mifepristone, one of two drugs used in over 60 percent of abortions — or even move to take the drug off the market entirely.
“This decision means the ball is squarely in the next administration’s court,” said Roger Severino, who oversees abortion policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation and led abortion-related initiatives in the Department of Health and Human Services under Trump. “It’s up to the next administration to restore some semblance of safety to this largely unregulated regime of chemical abortion.”As President Biden has repeatedly pledged to safeguard access to abortion pills — which leading medical associations agree are safe and effective — Trump has tried to distance himself from the issue. The former president, who appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, announced this spring that the issue should be left to the states — a position he reiterated Thursday morning when meeting with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Former president Donald Trump meets with Republican senators on Capitol Hill on Thursday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
