The United States Supreme Court has temporarily halted the imposition of restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, which is widely used in the US. The lower courts had ordered restrictions on the drug, but the Supreme Court issued an administrative stay, signed by Justice Samuel Alito, until April 19 to allow for parties to submit their arguments.
The stay also requested that parties submit their briefs by April 18. The decision comes after the Justice Department filed an emergency appeal requesting that the Supreme Court block lower court rulings that would have limited or banned the use of mifepristone from April 17.
The Justice Department argued that these lower court orders would have disrupted the status quo and scrambled the regulatory regime governing the drug, potentially harming women and the healthcare system.
The legal battle began when a conservative federal judge in Texas imposed a nationwide ban on mifepristone in response to a lawsuit by an anti-abortion coalition challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug in 2000. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk adopted language used by anti-abortion advocates, describing mifepristone as being used to “kill the unborn human.”
The manufacturer of mifepristone, Danco Laboratories, also filed a separate appeal with the Supreme Court, requesting that the lower court rulings be stayed pending an appeal. Danco Laboratories noted that a separate federal court in Washington had ruled that access to mifepristone should be maintained.
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