Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Women allege unequal pay at Apple, Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to punish private equity firms that strip hospitals, and the Supreme Court is unanimous on the matter of the FDA and mifepristone. Have a restful weekend
– In agreement. It’s hard to remember a time when there seemed to be consensus on anything related to abortion—but that’s just what happened, at least among the nine Supreme Court justices. In a unanimous decision yesterday, the court rejected a lawsuit challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of the abortion pill mifepristone.
The closely watched case had threatened to curtail access to the most widely used form of abortion that has become even more critical as some states drastically limit in-person abortion care. None other than Justice Brett Kavanaugh—who was in the conservative 5-4 majority overturning Roe v. Wade—wrote the court’s opinion.
The unanimous decision (not that uncommon—15 of 18 SCOTUS decisions this term were unanimous as of May) came down to the plaintiffs’ standing to sue on the issue. “We recognize that many citizens, including the plaintiff doctors here, have sincere concerns about and objections to others using mifepristone and obtaining abortions,” Kavanaugh wrote. “But citizens and doctors do not have standing to sue simply because others are allowed to engage in certain activities—at least without the plaintiffs demonstrating how they would be injured by the government’s alleged under-regulation of others.”
The case, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, had rallied the pharmaceutical industry, which worried that a decision restricting mifepristone could challenge the approvals process for any drug.
Kavanaugh’s opinion recognized the dangerous precedent a different decision would have set. “We decline to start the Federal Judiciary down that uncharted path,” he wrote. “That path would seemingly not end until virtually every citizen had standing to challenge virtually every government action that they do not like.”
While mifepristone is safe for now, this is hardly the end. Other cases challenging abortion—ones that are unlikely to be unanimously shut down—are likely. As Melinda French Gates responded to the news: “Today’s Supreme Court decision is welcome news, but the fight for reproductive rights is far from over,” she wrote on X. “Someone else will file a lawsuit. Another state will pass legislation restricting women’s options. The only way to stop these attacks on women’s autonomy is to make sure that women have the political power to set their own agenda, instead of having their fundamental rights depend on someone else’s.”
Emma Hinchliffe
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Single-issue. In other abortion-related news, nearly one-third of all voters—a new record—will only support candidates who share their views on abortion, according to a new Gallup poll. Twenty-three percent of pro-choice respondents said they were single-issue voters on abortion, far more than in past surveys, versus 8% of pro-lifers. Axios
- Pay gap. Two female employees have sued Apple, alleging in a proposed class action that the tech giant pays women less than men for similar work, especially among new hires. Apple says it reached gender pay parity in 2017. Wall Street Journal
- All-hands, no plans. X CEO Linda Yaccarino said little about layoffs and delayed promotions at the social media company during an all-hands meeting on Wednesday. Employees who attended said most of the questions submitted were about the delayed performance reviews, but Yaccarino pivoted to other topics. The Verge
- Stripping for parts. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced a bill on Tuesday to regulate private equity firms that own health care facilities. The Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act would establish legal consequences for private equity executives who “loot” parts of their health care businesses and cause patient deaths. Wall Street Journal
- Bloggers beware. Amber Venz Box, the cofounder of shopping app LTK, says Google’s AI-generated content overviews, which summarize search results, are “the nail in the coffin for future creators launching a blog.” The Information
- Miss-treated. Miss USA and Miss Teen USA resigned from their positions in May partly because of a toxic work environment created by CEO Laylah Rose, per New York Times interviews. Discussions with those close to the pageant depict Rose as harsh and self-centered, which she denies. New York Times
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Mezmo hired Lauren Nagel as vice president of product. mPulse named Kate Shields chief customer officer. Revolve promoted Divya Mathur to chief merchandising officer. Accenture CFO KC McClure is retiring; Angie Park will be her successor. Former GE CMO Linda Boff will become CEO of the marketing agency Said Differently.
ON MY RADAR
Volleyball was for girls. Now it’s booming with boys Wall Street Journal
Women's prize: Why are men still not reading women? The Persistent
The disturbing truth about hair relaxers New York Times
PARTING WORDS
“I grew up knowing that, in some way, I would play a role as a bridge between the Taiwanese and American people.”
— Taiwan's new Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, who has dreamed of being a diplomat since she was three years old