Supreme Court: US Supreme Court delays decision on abortion pill, preserving access for now – Times of India
WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended for two days a pause on a lower-court ruling that had sought to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone, ensuring that the drug would continue to remain widely available for now.
In a brief order, Justice Samuel Alito announced that the pause would lapse on Friday at midnight, giving the court more time to consider the case, though it could act before then.
That the court did not meet an earlier deadline suggests there may be disagreement among the justices in its first major case about abortion access since a conservative majority in June upended the constitutional right to an abortion. It could also indicate there may be a dissent in the case.
At issue is a ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, who in recent weeks had declared invalid the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, part of the most commonly used method for ending pregnancies in the United States.
The court’s order slows what has been a muddled and fast-moving landscape for mifepristone, marked by conflicting U.S. District Court decisions and an appeals panel ruling that further complicated the drug’s legal status.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case, in June, political and legal battles have centered on medications used for abortions. In some conservative states, lawmakers have targeted pills.
Medication abortion, a two-drug regimen, is typically used in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The first drug, mifepristone, blocks progesterone, a hormone that allows a pregnancy to develop, and the second, misoprostol, taken one or two days later, prompts contractions and helps the uterus expel its contents.
The dispute started in Texas in November, when an umbrella group of medical organizations and a few doctors who oppose abortion sued the FDA, challenging its approval of the pill more than two decades ago.
In their suit, the anti-abortion groups claimed that the FDA did not follow proper protocols when it approved the drug in 2000. The groups said that the agency had also ignored dangers of the drug in the years since.
The FDA, vigorously countering those claims, has said that the drug was properly approved more than 20 years ago and that it is very safe.
In a brief order, Justice Samuel Alito announced that the pause would lapse on Friday at midnight, giving the court more time to consider the case, though it could act before then.
That the court did not meet an earlier deadline suggests there may be disagreement among the justices in its first major case about abortion access since a conservative majority in June upended the constitutional right to an abortion. It could also indicate there may be a dissent in the case.
At issue is a ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, who in recent weeks had declared invalid the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, part of the most commonly used method for ending pregnancies in the United States.
The court’s order slows what has been a muddled and fast-moving landscape for mifepristone, marked by conflicting U.S. District Court decisions and an appeals panel ruling that further complicated the drug’s legal status.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case, in June, political and legal battles have centered on medications used for abortions. In some conservative states, lawmakers have targeted pills.
Medication abortion, a two-drug regimen, is typically used in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The first drug, mifepristone, blocks progesterone, a hormone that allows a pregnancy to develop, and the second, misoprostol, taken one or two days later, prompts contractions and helps the uterus expel its contents.
The dispute started in Texas in November, when an umbrella group of medical organizations and a few doctors who oppose abortion sued the FDA, challenging its approval of the pill more than two decades ago.
In their suit, the anti-abortion groups claimed that the FDA did not follow proper protocols when it approved the drug in 2000. The groups said that the agency had also ignored dangers of the drug in the years since.
The FDA, vigorously countering those claims, has said that the drug was properly approved more than 20 years ago and that it is very safe.
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