Abortion Pill’s Legal Limbo Continues

A federal appeals court issued a split decision on whether the abortion pill mifepristone should remain on the market — rejecting a lower court’s decision to effectively cancel the drug’s FDA approval in 2000, while ordering the rollback of more recent rules that made the drug easier to obtain. Nothing changes immediately, however, as the Supreme Court blocked the lower court’s ruling in the spring. It will be up to the high court to determine whether the pill remains available in the U.S. and under which conditions.

Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more.

Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too. 

Julie Rovner: Time’s “She Wasn’t Able to Get an Abortion. Now She’s a Mom. Soon She’ll Start 7th Grade,” by Charlotte Alter. 

Sarah Karlin-Smith: MIT Technology Review’s “Microplastics Are Everywhere. What Does That Mean for Our Immune Systems”? by Jessica Hamzelou. 

Shefali Luthra: The Atlantic’s “Right Price, Wrong Politics,” by Annie Lowrey. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico’s “We’re on the Cusp of Another Psychedelic Era. But This Time Washington Is Along for the Ride,” by Erin Schumaker and Katherine Ellen Foley.  

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

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