WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court put the legal battle over the abortion pill mifepristone on pause Friday, granting Americans full access to the medication while a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug continues.
The Court blocked new restrictions set by lower courts on a widely used abortion pill, a decision welcomed by President Biden as his administration defends broad access to the drug in the latest fierce legal battle over reproductive rights in the United States.
The justices, in a brief order, granted emergency requests by the Justice Department and the pill’s manufacturer Danco Laboratories to put on hold an April 7 preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas. The judge’s order would have greatly limited the availability of mifepristone while litigation proceeds in a challenge by anti-abortion groups to the pill’s federal regulatory approval.
“As a result of the Supreme Court’s stay, mifepristone remains available and approved for safe and effective use while we continue this fight in the courts,” Biden said in a statement issued by the White House.
“The stakes could not be higher for women across America. I will continue to fight politically driven attacks on women’s health,” Biden added.
