The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday blocked lower court decisions banning or limiting the FDA-approved use of the abortion pill mifepristone for the foreseeable future. But the justices, for now, left the case in the hands of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has scheduled oral arguments in the case for May 17. However the 5th Circuit rules, the case will almost certainly end up back at the Supreme Court, with the potential for a decision next term in the case.
The court’s action means that for now at least, the drug will be widely available, at least in those states where abortion is legal for up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy.
The court’s action came on a vote of 7 to 2.
Dissenting were Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
The latest legal clash over abortion began April 7 in Texas when U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a onetime anti-abortion activist, imposed a nationwide ban on mifepristone, declaring that the Food and Drug Administration had improperly approved the drug 23 years ago. Within minutes of that decision, federal judge William O. Rice in Washington state issued a contrary ruling. In a case brought by 17 states and the District of Columbia seeking to expand the use of mifepristone, Rice declared that the current FDA rules must remain in place.
On April 12, the case became even more procedurally convoluted when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals partially pulled back on the Texas ruling from Judge Kacsmaryk. Because the statute of limitations for challenging FDA approval of a drug had long passed, the appeals court ruled that mifepristone could continue to be used for up to seven weeks of pregnancy in states where abortion is legal. That despite the fact that the FDA has approved use of the pill for up to ten weeks of…
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