REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE COURTS Supreme Court to hear case on medication abortion The U.S. Supreme Court said yesterday it will hear a case challenging Americans’ access to a pill commonly used in abortion that could also potentially limit the FDA’s regulatory powers. In what will be the high court’s first major abortion case since it overturned Roe last year, it will consider state restrictions on mifepristone, a pill approved by the FDA more than 20 years ago. Used with another drug, misoprostol, it is approved for abortions up to 10 weeks, when most abortions take place. Medication abortions account for roughly half of procedures each year. How did we get here? A conservative Texas judge ruled in April that the FDA “acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns” amid political pressure to approve the drug. The same day, a Washington state judge ordered the FDA to maintain its approval and drop prescribing restrictions because it had been proven safe over years of use. STAT’s Sarah Owermohle has more. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE TRENCHES When Dobbs forced one doctor to shutter his abortion clinic, he took his mission on the road 20231116TravelingProvider08Stephanie Strasburg for STAT When the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned the constitutional right to an abortion in the U.S., it also upended the life of Aaron Campbell (above), who on that day in June 2022 turned away a patient seeking abortion for the first time. Lawyers at his clinic, the Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health in Knoxville, Tenn., urged him to stop performing the procedures immediately in the uncertain medical and legal atmosphere. Instead of moving to another state, Campbell has become a traveling abortion provider, going from clinic to clinic, state to state, license by license. Inspired by his father’s career in the same clinic, he sees his role this way: “I want to help this person with what they think is best for themselves, and all of us know ourselves better than anyone else,” he said. “Everyone probably knows someone who’s had an abortion.” STAT contributor Amy Pedulla has more. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN YOUNG PEOPLE Teen pregnancies down, but remain higher in the U.S.

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