Washington (United States) (AFP) – The US Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily maintained mail access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone. The court extended its stay of a lower court order that would have halted nationwide mail delivery of the drug. A panel of the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ordered a halt to mail access to mifepristone, which is used in the majority of abortions in the United States. But that ruling now remains on hold until the Supreme Court decides whether it will hear the case.
Two conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, dissented from the decision to extend the stay of the 5th Circuit decision. The 5th Circuit ruling was in response to a lawsuit brought against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the state of Louisiana, which has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country. Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, which manufacture mifepristone, asked the Supreme Court to pause the appeals court order while they prepare to bring an emergency case to the top court.
The 5th Circuit ruling would require women seeking abortions anywhere in the United States to obtain mifepristone in person from health clinics and ban delivery by mail or through a pharmacy after a virtual visit with a health provider. The conservative-dominated appeals court overturned a district court ruling that allowed mifepristone to continue to be delivered by mail while the FDA conducts a “safety study” of the drug. Mifepristone has been approved by the FDA since 2000 and is also routinely used for managing early miscarriages. Anti-abortion activists, however, have called the drug’s safety into question, with some citing a study conducted by a conservative think tank that never underwent a formal peer review.
Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, welcomed the Supreme Court move, but cautioned that while it “buys time” it does not bring “peace of mind.” “Mifepristone access remains highly at risk as this case moves forward and the Trump administration conducts a politically motivated review of this pill with the hardly disguised aim of making it harder to get,” Northup said in a statement. Mifepristone, which prevents pregnancy progression, and misoprostol, which empties the uterus, are approved to terminate a pregnancy up to 70 days of gestation in the United States.
More than 20 states have banned or restricted abortion since the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that enshrined the constitutional right to abortion for half a century. Polls show a majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion, even as conservative groups push to limit the procedure or ban it outright. In 2024, the Supreme Court rejected a bid to restrict mifepristone, ruling that anti-abortion groups and doctors challenging the medication lacked the legal standing to bring the case.
© 2024 AFP
