Mifepristone, a commonly used abortion-inducing medication, will continue to be available without additional restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge to its approval by an anti-abortion group.

The decision marks the Supreme Court’s first abortion-related ruling since overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022 and reverses the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision. The case began in Amarillo and then moved to the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, which upheld most of the initial ruling. However, the Supreme Court intervened, allowing mifepristone to remain on the market during the proceedings. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion, with Justice Clarence Thomas concurring.

Medication abortion using mifepristone was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration nearly 25 years ago and is safe and effective, according to the Guttmacher Institute. 

Laura Dixon, the communications director of Resound Research for Reproductive Health, said medication abortion is a safe and effective method for pregnancy termination and its use has doubled in the last decade, from 31% in 2014 to at least 63% in 2023.

“Although it is not legal to provide medication abortion in Texas, it remains important,” said Dixon in an email statement. “Even with the widespread implementation of state-level restrictions banning abortion, telemedicine with out-of-state providers protected by their own state’s shield laws and self-managed abortion via online procurement of abortion medications have played a significant role in mitigating access barriers for some people in the state. Also, many Texans who travel out-of-state for abortion still rely on the use of medication abortion to terminate their pregnancies.”