US Supreme Court upholds temporary access to abortion pill | Courts News

The decision keeps in place a number of restrictions on access to abortion pill, used in about half of all US abortions.

The United States Supreme Court has extended a temporary ruling that allows restricted access to the abortion pill mifepristone, as anti-abortion groups seek to roll back approval for the medication, which is used in about half of all of the country’s abortions.

Wednesday’s decision by US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito puts the issue on hold for two additional days, until Friday at 11:59pm US Eastern time (0359 GMT Saturday).

A previous decision to maintain access to mifepristone had been set to expire later on Wednesday.

Alito’s ruling will keep limitations implemented by a lower court in place as litigation over mifepristone continues. Conservative groups are seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill, granted more than two decades ago in 2000.

On April 7, a Texas District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered the suspension of mifepristone, granting an anti-abortion lawsuit’s call for an injunction on the pill’s approval while the FDA’s decision was challenged in court.

The Biden administration quickly appealed. A New Orleans appeals court loosened some of the restrictions but reverted mifepristone’s access to standards from 2016, before the FDA approved the pill for use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and allowed it to be sent via mail.

The Biden administration challenged those limitations and had expressed confidence in recent days that the Supreme Court would take its side.

Alito’s decision is likely to heighten tensions in the US, where Republican efforts to restrict abortion access have surged following the court’s decision last June to repeal Roe v Wade, a former case that had enshrined the right to abortion in the US.