The U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning federal abortion rights sets the stage for conservative states to drastically limit access to a pill used to end early pregnancies.
The ruling is likely to make abortion illegal in half the country and puts the authority to regulate the procedure back in the hands of state governments. Legal scholars say the move could spur states to go after mifepristone, a medication that’s used for the majority of U.S. abortions.
“Abortion pills are the new battleground. In many states they will be illegal,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. “There will be a race to the bottom for who can be the most restrictive state.”
