Health
Supreme Court temporarily extends access to abortion pill mifepristone until Friday
The drug, known as mifepristone, is approved to use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and is commonly prescribed to treat women who have miscarriages
April 20, 2023 1:09am
Updated: April 20, 2023 1:09am
The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily extended access to the medical abortion pill mifepristone until Friday while justices consider whether to make a permanent decision on the legality of the medicine.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ordered a temporary administrative stay of a Texas ruling to block the FDA’s approval of mifepristone to be extended to just before midnight on Friday. Alito gave no explanation for the delay in decision.
The drug, known as mifepristone, is approved to use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and is commonly prescribed to treat women who have miscarriages.
After the FDA approved the drug in 2000, restrictions were set in place. The FDA first announced that it would seek to change the way abortion pills could be accessed in December 2021, including permanently removing restrictions on mail-order shipping for abortion bills and allowing their prescription through telemedicine.
Earlier this year, the FDA announced it would allow retail pharmacies to dispense abortion pills to patients with a prescription for the first time in the United States.
Earlier this month, U.S. Court District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk gave a ruling that would have revoked the approval of the drug after abortion opponents filed a lawsuit in November in Amarillo.
Soon after, however, an appeals court modified the ruling to allow the drug to be used while the case continues but with harsher restrictions on who could access it. The restrictions include approving the medicine through seven weeks of pregnancy and requiring users to get it only after three in-person visits with a doctor, among other things.
The Biden administration and Danco Laboratories, the maker of the drug, want the Supreme Court to reject the restrictions that the lower courts have imposed on the drug.
The justices originally had given themselves until Wednesday to approve the restrictions on the abortion drug. They will meet for a private conference on Friday, where they will discuss the issue.
