Professor Duncan talked about latest legal news of state-level restrictions on abortion medication with the National Catholic Register.
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The National Catholic Register (NCR) interviewed UMass Law Professor Dwight Duncan on the latest news of state-level restrictions on abortion medication. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has upheld West Virginia's restriction on abortion pill access, specifically regarding the use of abortion pill Mifepristone, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed safe and effective. This decision, which now allows the state to limit the availability of the medication, is the first of its kind and could have implications for how other states regulate FDA approved medications.
In an interview with NCR, UMass Law Professor Dwight Duncan examined the constitutionality of the decision. Professor Duncan explained that the case tracks with the typical left-right divide on the U.S. Supreme Court, with the three liberals (Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson) likely to side against the West Virginia law, possibly joined by Chief Justice John Roberts. Duncan also assessed that for the time being, he doesn’t see the high court weighing in. “I think SCOTUS will leave this case alone unless there’s a split in the federal circuit courts of appeal, in which case they’ll have to resolve it,” Duncan said. For now, the abortion pill can still be mailed to residents in West Virginia, which relates to telehealth and U.S. mail or private carrier laws. Though the state made an argument against mailing abortion pills, the court’s final 2-1 decision excluded mailed abortion pills.