Pennsylvania
How the mifepristone case before SCOTUS could affect abortion in Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania Capital-Star

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing a case that could put limits on access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.
Pennsylvania is widely considered a “safe” state for reproductive rights: Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks, and Gov. Josh Shapiro was among 21 governors who urged the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief to rule in favor of access to mifepristone.
“I believe in women’s freedom to choose – and as long as I’m Governor, I will always defend freedom in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said in a statement in January.
Medication abortion includes mifepristone as the first drug and misoprostol as the second. The two-drug regimen accounted for about 63% of abortions within the United States in 2023, according to a March report from the Guttmacher Institute.
And according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, medication abortions accounted for more than half of all abortions performed in the state in 2022, the most recent year for which data was available.
The case
Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit in November 2022, challenging the original approval of the abortion pill in 2000 as well as the changes to when and how the drug could be used that were made in 2016 and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Pediatricians and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations as well as four doctors from California, Indiana, Michigan and Texas.
The case before SCOTUS, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM), seeks to revert the use of mifepristone back to what was in place before the FDA began making changes in 2016, and would potentially restrict mifepristone from being sent to patients through the mail.
US Supreme Court to decide fate of medication abortion access nationwide
Michael Gibson, director of communications for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, called the case “politically motivated and not in the interest of patients or providers.” He added that the case could have potential consequences for patient access to other FDA-approved medications.
“The Mifepristone case is a baseless lawsuit, and has been instigated and funded by anti-abortion extremists to further their agenda to eliminate abortion, birth control, and other sexual and reproductive health care nationwide,” Gibson said. “Mifepristone is a safe and common drug used in medication abortions for more than 20 years, and the FDA’s authority over medication approvals should never have been challenged. “
Justices seemed skeptical
During oral arguments in March, several of the Supreme Court justices seemed to question the premise of the original lawsuit, that anti-abortion doctors would be potentially harmed by having to treat patients suffering complications from using mifepristone.
“I’m worried that there is a significant mismatch in this case between the claimed injury and the remedy that’s being sought,”Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, appointed by President Joe Biden, said. “The obvious, common-sense remedy would be to provide them with an exemption that they don’t have to participate in this procedure.”
But, Jackson noted, the anti-abortion doctors were seeking changes in access to mifepristone for everyone in the country.
“And I guess I’m just trying to understand how they could possibly be entitled to that, given the injury that they have alleged,” Jackson said.
Erin Morrow Hawley argued on behalf of Alliance Defending Freedom and the anti-abortion doctors that conscience protections don’t go far enough.
“These are emergency situations,” Hawley said. “Respondent doctors don’t necessarily know until they scrub into that operating room whether this may or may not be abortion drug harm — it could be a miscarriage, it could be an ectopic pregnancy, or it could be an elective abortion.”
U.S. Supreme Court justices seem skeptical of limits on access to abortion medication
The justices’ questions would seem to indicate things may not tilt in favor of the AHM.
“The oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine revealed that most of the justices are skeptical of AHM’s standing to bring the litigation, so all signs are pointing to a ruling that will not change anything about the availability of mifepristone in Pennsylvania,” Susan J. Frietsche, Co-Executive Director of Women’s Law Project told the Capital-Star.
If SCOTUS’ decision rolled back to the pre-2016 restrictions, mifepristone could only be administered by a doctor, not another medical practitioner. Under Pennsylvania state law, Frietsche noted, only doctors can provide abortion care, so reverting to that provision wouldn’t affect patients here.
She added that it was unclear how the old restrictions would be enforced, however, “so it is difficult to predict whether access to mifepristone would be restricted immediately or more slowly should the Court rule against the FDA.”
The court is expected to issue its ruling in the case this summer.

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Lottery Powerball, Pick 2 Day results for March 8, 2025
The Pennsylvania Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Saturday, March 8, 2025 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 8 drawing
02-04-16-23-63, Powerball: 13, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 2 numbers from March 8 drawing
Day: 5-2, Wild: 0
Evening: 8-6, Wild: 9
Check Pick 2 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 8 drawing
Day: 6-7-2, Wild: 0
Evening: 1-7-3, Wild: 9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from March 8 drawing
Day: 2-0-0-3, Wild: 0
Evening: 0-6-7-3, Wild: 9
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 8 drawing
Day: 7-4-8-5-7, Wild: 0
Evening: 1-3-2-9-9, Wild: 9
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash4Life numbers from March 8 drawing
18-25-26-35-40, Cash Ball: 02
Check Cash4Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 5 numbers from March 8 drawing
11-14-20-26-37
Check Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Treasure Hunt numbers from March 8 drawing
05-07-10-23-24
Check Treasure Hunt payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Match 6 Lotto numbers from March 8 drawing
02-05-14-17-28-40
Check Match 6 Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 8 drawing
21-24-37-62-68, Powerball: 11
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
- Sign the Ticket: Ensure your ticket has your signature, name, address and phone number on the back.
- Prizes up to $600: Claim at any PA Lottery retailer or by mail: Pennsylvania Lottery, ATTN: CLAIMS, PO BOX 8671, Harrisburg, PA 17105.
- Prizes from $600 to $2,500: Use a Claim Form to claim at a retailer or by mail: Pennsylvania Lottery, ATTN: CLAIMS, PO BOX 8671, Harrisburg, PA 17105.
- Prizes over $2,500: Mail your signed ticket with a Claim Form or in person at a Lottery Area Office (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
Lottery Headquarters is currently not open to the public. Visit the PA Lottery website for other office locations near you.
When are the Pennsylvania Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 2, 3, 4, 5: 1:35 p.m. and 6:59 p.m. daily.
- Cash4Life: 9 p.m. daily.
- Cash 5: 6:59 p.m. daily.
- Treasure Hunt: 1:35 p.m. daily.
- Match 6 Lotto: 6:59 p.m. Monday and Thursday.
- Powerball Double Play: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Pennsylvania editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Pennsylvania
Basketball brawl among players, fans in Pennsylvania ends in arrests (video)

It was bedlam in Pennsylvania Friday night.
A brawl broke out in the stands between fans and parents during boys basketball high school playoff game between Uniontown and Meadville High that created such a hostile atmosphere that the game was not completed.
(scroll down for video breakdown)
Meadville was leading Uniontown 63-55 with 3:12 to play in the fourth quarter.
Play stops when an official issues a technical foul to a Uniontown player who reportedly dunks the ball (or apparently tries to) after the whistle was blown. The technical was the player’s fifth foul, fouling him out of the game and creating a pause in the action while the officials talk among themselves and to personnel at the scorer’s table.
As foul shots are ready to be taken, commotion begins behind the Meadville bench, but it gets worse when a Uniontown parent marches up into the Meadville fans in the stands and begins to throw punches.
The fight spills onto the court and among players. Some players are even seen going after other fans and high school students. Two arrests were made soon after the dust settles.
According to reports, a winner has not been deemed from Friday night’s game.
High School on SI senior reporter Tarek Fattal breaks down the video footage of the incident.
Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school sports news.
To get live updates on your phone – as well as follow your favorite teams and top games – you can download the SBLive Sports app:
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Pennsylvania
Jason Kelce overcame opposition from neighbors to keep adding to his Pennsylvania compound
- Jason Kelce is trying to build another home on his Haverford, Pennsylvania estate.
- Neighbors were concerned that construction could lead to a higher chance of flooding in the area.
- Kelce also got permission to add a fence for “unique” security concerns.
Super Bowl champ Jason Kelce recently faced some new opponents: his neighbors.
In 2018, the former NFL offensive lineman started buying neighboring properties in Haverford, Pennsylvania, an upscale suburb of Philadelphia. During a February 20 Haverford Township zoning board meeting, Kelce answered questions about his application to disturb the slopes on his property to build a fourth home and add a fence to his now 10-acre estate.
At least one Haverford resident said in the hearing that they worried changing the inclines on Kelce’s property would change the water runoff patterns and lead to flooding of neighboring properties.
Kelce left the meeting with a win: approval from the board. Kelce — who played all 13 seasons of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and now has a hit podcast with his NFL star brother Travis — and his wife Kylie Kelce have three daughters five and under with another girl on the way.
Other celebrities trying to develop their properties have butted heads with neighbors. Take Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, who the Daily Mail was first to report irked some English neighbors after buying a home in the bucolic Cotswolds region. According to minutes from the local government cited by the Independent, parish councilors feared that an addition and a fence the couple were adding to their property would increase the risk of local flooding and possibly endanger historic Roman ruins. The council ultimately found the work was done well and deemed the ruins safe.
While Kelce’s plans faced some opponents, he overcame them relatively smoothly.
Kelce and his lawyer Ji Min Jun, who was present at the meeting, could not be reached for additional comment.
The Kelces started buying up property in Haverford in 2018
Delaware County, Pennsylvania, records show Kelce bought his first piece of land in Haverford, a 1-acre property with a four-bedroom home already on it, for $680,000 in 2018. He bought a neighboring property in 2020 for $3.96 million and another one for $1.35 million in 2023.
Haverford, known in part for the small liberal arts college named for it, has a population of about 50,000.
halbergman/Getty Images
Kelce, his lawyer, and his civil engineer appeared at the February 20 zoning meeting to explain more about what the Kelces wanted to do on the property.
Adding a fence would “deter a little bit of the foot traffic coming in and out of the home,” Kelce said at the meeting.
Building a fence and an additional home would, however, “disturb steep slopes” on the property, Jun said.
Neighbor Wendy De La Rosa stepped forward to find out more about how changing the slopes would affect flooding in the neighborhood.
“That whole area does have issues with water runoff,” she said. “Especially if there’s not going to be any mitigation during the construction period, we want to understand so there’s no flooding in the backyard for our kid.”
Timothy Davis, a civil engineer for the project, quelled concerns about increased runoff by arguing that the construction should result in better water collection than before.
The board approved the zoning variance for the Kelces to continue working on their fourth home, and board member William Rhodes added the condition that “all stormwater runoff shall be managed by the applicant so as not to adversely affect any neighboring property.”
At the meeting, Jun also said that a home on one of the properties has already been demolished, and construction on the new house has begun. The fence was also approved.
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