New York — The court’s successive rulings on access to abortion pills are putting a controversial political issue back in the spotlight ahead of this year’s election. Midterm elections This will determine control of Congress during the second half of President Donald Trump’s term.
Friday’s ruling from a federal appeals court Access to restricted mail to prescriptions for mifepristone, one of the most common abortion methods nationwide, in the largest shift to federal abortion policy since the 2022 Supreme Court decision allowing states to impose abortion bans.
The Supreme Court then provisionally Restore access at scale to the drug on Monday while it studies the case further, setting the stage for a potential decision that could have wide-ranging consequences for patients and providers.
It’s too early to say whether the latest rulings will impact the outcome of races this year, as affordability issues are expected to be top of mind among voters. But advocates on both sides of the issue hope it will sway voters their way.
Some abortion rights groups are already strategizing ways to reach voters they believe may be more motivated to turn out for Democrats because of the prospect of more restrictions. Meanwhile, abortion opponents, who say the GOP-led federal government has not done enough to ban the pill, are warning that their typically loyal Republican voters may miss out on future elections, with one leading anti-abortion advocate calling it a “five-alarm crisis” for the GOP.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, several states voted to enshrine abortion rights in their constitutions, leading to a historic turnout surge that sometimes contributed to Democratic wins elsewhere on the ballot.
But Democratic pollster Celinda Lake believes the issue has lost some steam among voters, not because Democrats don’t care, but because they have a sense that “the damage has been done.”
Although Friday’s ruling was temporarily suspended, Lake said, he reminded voters that their access to abortion medications through telehealth is not guaranteed, even in states with abortion rights. She said that created a huge but “terrifying” opportunity to tell voters what could be at stake in this year’s midterm elections.
Minnie Timaraju, president and CEO of the abortion rights group Reproductive Freedom for All, said communicating with voters about the volatility of abortion access will be part of her group’s strategy in the midterms. This includes contacting voters who supported Trump and also abortion rights in their state elections in 2024.
“The only way for us to stop this back and forth is for access to abortion to be legal in all 50 states,” she said. “The only way to do that is through federal legislation, which makes the midterms even more urgent.”
Meanwhile, the Republican coalition faces an increasingly restive right wing of abortion opponents who expected Trump to make good on his promise to be “the most pro-life president in history” but say they haven’t seen that yet.
More pressing is the FDA’s review of the safety of mifepristone, which anti-abortion groups hope will lead to further restrictions, including banning its prescription via telehealth platforms. Anti-abortion groups have urged FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty McCurry to complete the review sooner, while the agency says it is “ensured that this study is done properly and in the right way.”
On Monday, the anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America ramped up its messaging, calling for McCary to be fired over the issue.
“This is a five-alarm crisis for the pro-life movement and the Republican Party,” the group’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said in a statement. “The Republican Party cannot win without its base, and it simply will not have the enthusiasm that drives voter turnout without leadership from the top.”
Trump, whose nominations for his first term paved the way for a Supreme Court vote to overturn Roe, has taken some steps that abortion opponents have cheered, including trying to withhold money from Planned Parenthood and launching… Investigations in the states Which requires state-regulated health insurance plans to cover abortion.
But he has often sought to stay away from the abortion issue, saying he believes it should be left to the states. The president publicly supported abortion rights until he entered politics in 2015, and his wife, Melania Trump, declared broad support for abortion rights in 2024.
Abortion opponents say they have no plans to let Trump avoid the issue for the remainder of his term. Mark Witt, general counsel for former Vice President Mike Pence’s political advocacy group Advancing American Freedom, said his group will increase pressure on the administration. This will include urging the FDA to quickly release documents related to mifepristone that it owes to the group through a lawsuit.
“President Trump thinks pro-lifers are the losers,” Witt said. “He may see that pro-lifers may not reach the numbers he needs.”
Even as Trump and the Republican-led Congress face increasing pressure from the right to restrict access to medical abortion, Republicans across the country are far from united in taking this position.
About two-thirds of Americans oppose a nationwide ban on mifepristone, according to the The KFF survey was conducted late last year. Most Democrats and independents objected to such a ban, while Republicans were more divided.
Americans’ public views on abortion remain complex, with about two-thirds of American adults saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to AP-NORC poll. Relatively few believe that abortion should be illegal in all cases.
John Meese, CEO of Americans United for Life, at least one abortion opponent, said he was focused on incremental victories over the sweeping changes some of his allies are calling for. While he wishes the FDA would move faster on its safety review, he realizes that not all Americans are in the same place he is.
“I think there is progress being made in a positive direction,” he added. “While it may not meet the pace that many in the pro-life movement would like to see, I think it does meet the accepted place we are in culturally.”
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Associated Press writer Lynley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.