The supreme court protected access to the abortion pill mifepristone
CNN reported:
The Supreme Court on Friday protected access to a widely used abortion drug by freezing lower-court rulings that placed restrictions on its usage.
As a result, the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug mifepristone and subsequent actions that made it more easily accessible will remain in place while appeals play out – potentially for months to come.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito publicly dissented.
The legal proceedings will continue.
As the Associated Press previously reported, Justice Samuel Alito issued an order Wednesday delaying the ultimate decision until today. Alito, who is responsible for handling emergency appeals from Texas, gave no reason for his ruling.
Pro-life doctors and medical groups represented by the socially conservative Alliance Defending Freedom filed suit back in November challenging the federal government’s authority to issue mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions.
The legal challenge quickly reached the Supreme Court after U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee based in Texas, on April 7 revoked FDA approval of mifepristone. abortions.
At nearly the same time, U.S. District Court Judge, Thomas O. Rice, a Barack Obama appointee in Washington state, ordered U.S. federal officials not to make any changes that would restrict access to the drug in at least 17 states where Democrats sued in an effort to protect availability.
Less than a week later, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals altered Kacsmaryk’s ruling so that mifepristone would remain available while the case continues. The court ruled the drug should only be approved through seven weeks of pregnancy for the time being. The FDA since 2016 has endorsed use of mifepristone through 10 weeks of pregnancy.
The court also said that the drug cannot be mailed or dispensed as a generic. Patients who seek the drug also need to make three in-person visits with a doctor.
The second part will have noticeable consequences nationwide because generic mifepristone makes up two-thirds of the supply in the United States according to its manufacturer, Las Vegas- GenBioPro Inc.
Mifepristone first won FDA approval in 2000, and conditions on its use have been loosened in recent years, including making it available by mail in states that allow access.
Developing…
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