Today the Supreme Court held unanimously that anti-abortion doctors lack standing to challenge the Food and Drug Administration's decisions to loosen the regulation of mifepristone. Justice Thomas wrote separately to reiterate his opposition to third-party standing and raise questions about the Court's long-standing acceptance of associational standing (and universal injunctions too). Given current pressure to rethink aspects of standing doctrine, his opinion is worth some attention.
Justice Thomas begins his opinion restating his objections to third-party standing.
Our third-party standing precedents allow a plaintiff to assert the rights of another person when the plaintiff has a "close relationship with the person who possesses the right" and "there is a hindrance to the possessor's ability to protect his own interests." . . . . Applying these precedents, the Court explains that the doctors cannot establish third-party standing to sue for violations of their patients' rights without showing an injury of their own. . . But, there is a far simpler reason to reject this theory: Our third-party standing doctrine is mistaken. As I have previously explained, a plaintiff cannot establish an Article III case or controversy by asserting another person's rights. . . .. So, just as abortionists lack standing to assert the rights of their clients, doctors who oppose abortion cannot vicariously assert the rights of their patients.
