Biden campaign says 'abortion is on the ballot' and warns it would be 'disastrous' if Supreme Court moves to ban commonly used abortion pill

The Biden campaign is going on offense ahead of the consequential Supreme Court hearing over the commonly used abortion pill mifepristone, warning the decision could be 'disastrous' as abortion rights are expected to play a central role in the 2024 election.

The case FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine goes before the country's highest court on Tuesday, March 26. It looks at FDA actions to relax rules around prescribing the drug used in more than half of abortions in the United States.

The court's decision could have the largest impact on abortion access nationwide since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade ending the national right to an abortion in 2022.

If the court rules to reinstate restrictions on the abortion pill that have been rolled back, it would not just affect states where abortion has been further restricted since Roe fell but also states that have moved to protect and expand abortion rights.

'This case could strip away access to medication abortion everywhere in this county,' Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said on Monday. 'It would be the biggest step toward Donald Trump's ultimate goal of a nationwide abortion ban since Roe was overturned.'

She slammed the potential impact of the decision against the FDA, calling it 'disastrous' and warned women would be unable to get the reproductive health care they need. 

She also blasted the ex-president for nominating three of the Supreme Court justices who ruled to overturn Roe and will hear arguments on Tuesday.

'Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans are showing us every day that reproductive rights are on the ballot in November,' Rodriguez said. She said Biden is 'doing everything in his power' to protect access to medication abortion. 

The White House on Monday said it will stand by the FDA's 'independent approval and regulation of mifepristone as safe and effective' and will fight back on 'unprecedented attacks on women's freedom to make their own health decisions.'

Biden speaking at an event on protecting abortion rights in October. His campaign went on offense ahead of the Supreme Court mifepristone hearing warning it could be 'disastrous' 

The Supreme Court on March 26 will hear FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine over FDA actions to ease restrictions on the commonly used abortion pill

The case on Tuesday looks at actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration to relax restrictions on the pill mifepristone which was first approved in 2000. 

The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which is made up of groups of anti-abortion medical professionals, challenged the FDA approval of mifepristone and subsequent rule changes in November 2022.

The district court sided with the plaintiffs' attempt to block the drug. An appeals court ruled to reinstate numerous restrictions on the drug but did not move to block mifepristone altogether. There has been a stay on the order as the case makes its way through the legal system. 

Mifepristone is part of a two-drug process to end a pregnancy and is approved for abortion during up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Research by Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization, found medication abortions made up 63 percent of all abortions last year, and the use of telemedicine and mailing of abortion pills has also increased from only 7 percent in 2020 to 31 percent in 2022 as nearly half of states moved to restrict or ban abortion after Roe was overturned.

'Access to this essential medication is even more critical in the post-Dobbs world that Donald Trump has ushered in,' said Mini Timmaraju, CEO and president of Reproductive Freedom for All, on a Biden campaign call with reporters. 

Timmaraju warned the case is part of a bigger effort to end abortion access. 

The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lawsuit challenged the FDA approval process and relaxation of restrictions on the pill

Mifepristone is one of drug used in the medication abortion process and is used in more than half of all abortions in the U.S. More than 5.6 million women have used mifepristone since it was approved in 2000

While the Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday, the decision is not expected to come down until June or early July before the court goes on recess for the summer.

It means the decision could have a galvanizing effect on the November election as the one to overturn Roe did in the 2022. 

In the most recent midterms, Republicans did not see the red wave some had anticipated. Exit polling showed abortion was one of the top issues, if not the top issue, in several battleground states. 

Democrats leaned in on protecting access to abortion and credit their stance for helping win multiple tight races across the country that year while even in red states like Kansas, where abortion was on the ballot, voters moved to protect it.

In a series of recent battleground and national polls, Biden has trailed Trump in a head-to-head match up. But while voters have said Trump would do better on issues like immigration, Biden leads on protecting abortion rights.

It has been a central focus for him and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House and on the campaign trail. 

Biden has called on Americans to send him a Congress this fall that will support codifying Roe v Wade. Harris recently became the first sitting vice president or president to visit an abortion clinic.

Abortion rights have galvanized Democrats and moderates. Protesters in Texes in 2023 rallying against the lawsuit to ban the abortion drug mifepristone 

Vice President Kamala Harris has seized on abortion as a major campaign issue in the 2024 election and is the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic

The Biden campaign said they will continue to focus on the issue and highlight Republicans' stances leading up to November. 

It comes as Trump has yet clearly stated where he stands on a national abortion ban. 

Recently, Trump said he would make a decision 'pretty soon' on a national abortion ban and called the Supreme Court overturning Roe 'extremely good.'

He signaled he is open to the idea of backing a 15 week federal abortion ban, arguing the majority of the country seemed to be supportive of the idea. 

'It'll come out to something that's very reasonable but people are really, even hardliners are agreeing, seems to be, 15 weeks seems to be a number that people are agreeing at,' he said. 

Trump has signaled he supports a 15-week national abortion ban but has not given a definitive answer as he campaigns for a second term in the White House. He has acknowledged abortion as an issue has hurt Republicans in elections

Democrats have blasted Republicans for talk of a 15 week ban but also the GOP for being vague on where they stand on the issue as a party. 

'The Republicans may not want to have a unified abortion message that is heard nationally because their underlying goal to ban abortion nationwide is wildly unpopular,' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on Tuesday. 

'So if they can try and throw up a bunch of dust and say, "oh we only want this piece or we only want that piece" they think that will help them at the ballot box,' she said. 

DailyMail.com reached out to the Trump campaign about where the ex-president stands on restricting mifepristone ahead of the Supreme Court hearing but has yet to hear back.