Abortion Drug Case Appears Unlikely to Be Opened to Red States

Three Ninth Circuit judges hearing oral arguments Wednesday seemed skeptical of a request by six red states to join a lawsuit by 17 other states and Washington, D.C, against the US to lift limitations on a drug used to induce abortions.

The judges’ questioning highlighted multiple reasons for denying the red states’ request, including the states’ failure to allege injuries that would support their standing to bring the case and the fact that the issue they raised isn’t the same as the one asserted in the original complaint.

Ultimately, there may be no need to decide the intervention question, the ...