For decades the fight to end abortion in America has been waged over Roe v. Wade. With the Supreme Court poised to overturn the landmark decision that legalized a woman’s right to choose, the fight to stop abortion is going to become a fight about a pill.
Mifepristone, originally known as RU-486, was approved in the U.S. in 2000 after being on the market overseas for more than a decade. When used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, it’s more than 95% effective in terminating a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks. Data overwhelmingly show it’s safe. Yet, as I wrote in a Bloomberg Businessweek cover story earlier this year, it’s regulated like almost no other drug in the U.S. The federal government has one set of restrictions on how the pill is used, and state governments have additional, often more onerous rules.
