With the future of a commonly used abortion medication on its way to the Supreme Court, the pharmaceutical industry has escalated its warnings: If court orders to limit or undo the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone are allowed to stand, industry executives and law experts say, the effects could reach far beyond abortion.
The lawsuit, filed last November by a coalition of anti-abortion groups and doctors, takes aim at nearly every step of the FDA's regulatory process — including its original approval of mifepristone for use up to seven weeks of pregnancy in 2000, along with the agency's later decisions to expand approval to 10 weeks of pregnancy and allow the drug to be dispensed by mail.
