Divided Supreme Court removes restrictions on abortion pill access

The Supreme Court on Friday removed the threat of any restrictions on a common abortion pill after a lower court judge’s ruling threatened to reverse the government’s 23-year approval of the drug.

Access to the drug mifepristone will remain unchanged for now after the majority on the high court sided with the Biden administration, freezing a lower court ruling. In a brief order, the justices wrote they would halt the ruling from a Texas federal district court judge while the administration’s appeal proceeds.

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Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the decision, saying they would have denied the request for a pause.

On April 7, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s 2000 approval of the drug, one of two commonly used pills for a nonsurgical abortion. The judge held that the FDA’s approval process was improper and rushed and that it brought about an unsafe drug regimen to the market.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit paused part of the Texas judge’s ruling until it considered the government’s argument, temporarily allowing the FDA’s initial approval of the drug. It left in place another part of Kacsmaryk’s decision that blocked some measures the FDA has taken since the mid-2010s to make the pill more accessible.

Through the high court’s order, those lower court rulings remain blocked.

Mifepristone will for now be allowed to be sent through the mail. The justices’ decision also removes a requirement for patients to make three in-person visits to receive the drug and allows use of the drug for up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy rather than seven.

Oral arguments over the government’s appeal have been scheduled for May 17. Access to the drug will remain unchanged until a three-judge panel makes its ruling, though a party could again appeal to the nation’s highest court.

President Joe Biden released a statement saying the case’s “stakes could not be higher for women across America.”

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“I will continue to fight politically driven attacks on women’s health. But let’s be clear — the American people must continue to use their vote as their voice and elect a Congress who will pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade,” Biden said.

The decision Friday marks the first major decision in an abortion-related case since last summer’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe and allowed states to impose laws severely restricting abortion access.