Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20a34_3f14.pdf
Page Number: 8.0

6 

FDA v. AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIANS AND 
GYNECOLOGISTS 
SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

sufficient basis for the decision”); id., at ___ (ALITO, J., dis-
senting) (slip op., at 3) (“Under our precedent, the critical 
question . . . is whether [a] challenged . . . law places a ‘sub-
stantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abor-
tion of a nonviable fetus’ ” (quoting Casey, 505 U. S., at 877 
(plurality opinion))).  The Government has moreover failed 
to  demonstrate  irreparable  harm.    For  these  reasons,  I 
would deny the Government’s request.  

II 
A 
  Due  to  particularly  severe  health  risks,  vastly  limited 
clinic options, and the 10-week window for obtaining a med-
ication abortion, the FDA’s requirement that women obtain 
mifepristone  in  person  during  the  COVID–19  pandemic 
places an unnecessary and undue burden on their right to 
abortion.  Pregnancy itself puts a woman at increased risk 
for severe consequences from COVID–19.  In addition, more 
than half of women who have abortions are women of color, 
and  COVID–19’s  mortality  rate  is  three  times  higher  for 
Black  and  Hispanic  individuals  than  non-Hispanic  White 
individuals.  On top of that, three-quarters of abortion pa-
tients have low incomes, making them more likely to rely 
on  public  transportation  to  get to  a  clinic to  pick  up  their 
medication.  Such patients must bear further risk of expo-
sure  while  they  travel,  sometimes  for  several  hours  each 
way, to clinics often located far from their homes.8  Finally, 

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8 For instance, according to the most recently available data, Arkansas 
has just three abortion clinics, and 77% of women of childbearing age live 
in a county without any clinic.  Mississippi has just one abortion clinic, 
and 91% of women of childbearing age live in a county without any clinic.  
Missouri has just three abortion clinics, and 78% of women of childbear-
ing age live in a county without a clinic.  North Dakota has just one abor-
tion clinic, and 72% of women of childbearing age live in a county without 
any clinic.  See Guttmacher Institute, R. Jones, E. Witwer, & J. Jerman, 
Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2017, 
pp. 17–18 (2019).