The US Supreme Court temporarily protected access to a commonly used abortion pill on Friday, freezing lower court orders that would have prohibited or severely restricted the drug’s availability. Two conservative justices dissented from the verdict in the most important abortion issue to come before the nine-member court since it abolished the constitutional right to the operation ten months ago. Without commenting on the case’s merits, the decision by the nation’s top court means that mifepristone, which is used in more than half of abortions in the United States, will continue to be available until the case is heard in an appeals court.
President Joe Biden‘s Justice Department has filed an emergency appeal seeking the Supreme Court to overturn lower court orders that would have outlawed or limited the use of mifepristone. The case is based on a judgement by a US District Court judge in Texas in a lawsuit brought by anti-abortion groups that would have prohibited the use of mifepristone, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000. After an appeals court blocked a pill ban but imposed tight access limitations, the baton was passed to the Supreme Court, where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority.
13 states have banned abortion and others have severely restricted it
The Supreme Court decision effectively freezes the lower court rulings pending the appellate court hearing of the appeal from the Justice Department and mifepristone manufacturer Danco Laboratories. Reacting to the Supreme Court move, Biden said the lower court decisions “would have undermined FDA’s medical judgment and put women’s health at risk.” “As a result of the Supreme Court’s stay, mifepristone remains available and approved for safe and effective use while we continue this fight in the courts,” Biden said in a statement. “I will continue to fight politically-driven attacks on women’s health.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned the historic Roe v. Wade decision, which had for half a century protected the constitutional right to abortion, 13 states have banned abortion and others have severely restricted it. The Justice Department is leading the charge against the legal assault on the abortion pill, claiming that the initial finding by a federal court in Texas was based on a “deeply misguided assessment” of the pill’s safety. Mifepristone is one of two drugs that can be taken during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. It has a lengthy track record of safety, and the FDA estimates that 5.6 million Americans have used it to end pregnancies since its approval.
Polls demonstrate that a significant majority of Americans support ongoing access to safe abortion, even as conservative groups try to curtail or even ban the operation.