Three Republican-led states will not be allowed to join an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court that will decide the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, the high court ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, where anti-abortion groups filed the challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug, last month had allowed Missouri, Kansas and Idaho to join the lawsuit.
The states will remain as parties in the underlying case. However, Tuesday's ruling means they will not be part of an appeal of Kacsmaryk's preliminary order and a later appeals court order that would put significant restrictions on mifepristone, including a ban on prescribing it by telemedicine and dispensing it by mail.
The Supreme Court, as is its custom, did not explain why it denied the states' motion.
The FDA has argued that the anti-abortion groups behind the lawsuit do not have legal standing to bring it because they are not harmed by the availability of the pill. That is expected to be a key issue in the appeal, which is set to be argued on March 26.
The states, which all ban abortion in most cases, have said that they have standing because they have to spend public funds to treat their citizens who experience complications after they leave the state to obtain mifepristone and return.
In a motion filed last month, they told the Supreme Court that they should be allowed to join the appeal so that the court can decide the merits of the case even if it decides that the original plaintiffs lack standing.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement that the states would file a friend-of-the-court brief, and "look forward to continuing our support of the great work" done by the anti-abortion groups in the case.
The FDA and the offices of the Kansas and Idaho attorneys general did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mifepristone, approved by the FDA in 2000, is one of two drugs used in medication abortion, which accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions. The recently formed Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and other groups sued the FDA in 2022, saying it had not adequately considered the risks of the drug when it first approved it, or when it later eased restrictions on its distribution.
Mainstream medical organizations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists agree with the FDA that the drug is safe and effective for its approved use of ending a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks.
The case is Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 23-235.
For the states: Missouri Solicitor General Joshua Divine, Kansas Solicitor General Anthony Powell and Idaho Solicitor General Alan Hurst
For the FDA: U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar
For the plaintiffs: Erin Hawley of Alliance Defending Freedom
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