This article originally ran on March 28, 2024 in Law360, Employment Attys Keeping Close Eye On Abortion Pill Case.
Gretchen Harders was interviewed by Law360 in its coverage of recent Supreme Court oral arguments challenging the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a drug used for medicated abortion and other fertility related conditions, in the consolidated cases Danco v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Case No. 23-236, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Case No. 23-235. Though these cases ultimately challenge the FDA’s recent prescribing rules on mifepristone, such as permitting prescription through telemedicine, providers generally will adopt the limitations on FDA approval specifically delineating the circumstances in which mifepristone is safe for use. Employer group health plans typically adopt similar limitations in covered benefits and scrutinize off-label usage of prescribed medication.
The interviewer asked what is the likely impact on employees if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs. “‘If the effect is to limit the availability of mifepristone, perhaps employees would seek to use the travel benefits more, to obtain related services,’ Harders said. ‘I think, ultimately, the larger issue, if all of this would carry through to employers and employers' health plans — it's really just going to impact the benefits that employers provide to women in the workforce.’ She said more limited care options, including for things like miscarriage, would affect workers' physical and, possibly, mental health, too.”