Abortion Pill Legal Fight Leaves FDA Grappling With Response

The US Supreme Court’s decision to send back to a lower court a fight over the FDA approval of a widely used abortion pill tees up complicated legal questions over politicized medical treatments and the federal government’s authority over them.

In blocking lower court bans on the abortion drug mifepristone for the duration of a legal battle over the drug’s availability, the Supreme Court has allowed lower courts to scrutinize the process the FDA used to approve the drug 23 years ago and whether a century-old federal law prohibits the distribution of the abortion pill mifepristone by mail.

In his ...