In the latest struggle over reproductive rights in the United States, the Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to rule on restrictions imposed by a lower court on a widely used abortion medication.
It is the most important abortion issue to reach the nation’s highest court since the justices rejected the procedure’s constitutional right in June of last year.
The lower court decision limiting the use of the abortion medicine mifepristone has been put on hold pending a decision by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court on whether to accept the case.
Danco Laboratories, the maker of mifepristone, and Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration had petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court order that limited access to the drug.
In a statement, the White House said Biden was “firmly committed to defending women’s ability to access reproductive care” and that mifepristone has been proven to be “safe and effective.”
“Across the country, we’ve seen unprecedented attacks on women’s freedom to make their own health decisions,” the White House said. “No woman should be unable to access the health care that she needs. This should not happen in America, period.”
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the abortion pill case next year, with a ruling expected by the end of June 2024, four months before the US presidential election, in which abortion would almost certainly be a significant topic.
This August, a federal appeals court dominated by conservatives imposed restrictions on the use of mifepristone, which is used in more than half of all abortions in the United States.
A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that mifepristone should only be used during the first seven weeks of pregnancy, rather than the full ten, and that it should not be given by mail.
It would also require the abortion pill to be prescribed by a doctor.
Approved over 20 years ago by FDA
Anti-abortion groups are attempting to have mifepristone outlawed, saying that it is hazardous despite its extensive track record.
The government argued at a hearing in May that the decision to allow the use of mifepristone should be left to the Food and medicine Administration (FDA), which approved the medicine more than 20 years ago.
The dispute originates from an order in Texas by a conservative US District Court judge appointed by former President Donald Trump that would have prohibited the use of mifepristone.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his ban on the abortion pill but imposed access limits, after which the baton was passed to the Supreme Court, where conservatives have a 6-3 majority.
The Supreme Court temporarily safeguarded access to mifepristone by freezing lower court verdicts, and the medicine is still on the market for the time being.
Mifepristone is one of two drugs that can be taken during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
It has a long track record of safety, with the FDA estimating that 5.6 million Americans have used it to end pregnancies since its approval in 2000.
Since the Supreme Court overruled the historic Roe v. Wade decision, which had protected the constitutional right to abortion for half a century, more than a dozen states have banned abortion and others have severely limited it.
In one carefully followed case, a Texas lady fled the state last week to seek an emergency abortion after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that she could not terminate her dangerous pregnancy.
Texas has some of the most stringent anti-abortion laws in the country, with abortions prohibited even in cases of r*pe or incest. Texas also has a provision that allows individual citizens to sue anyone who performs or assists in the performance of an abortion.
Polls demonstrate that a significant majority of Americans support ongoing access to safe abortion, even as conservative groups try to curtail — or even outlaw — the operation.