The battle over a commonly used abortion pill is before the Supreme Court again.
The New York Times reports that the Biden administration had asked the justices to hear a challenge to the drug’s availability following a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that curtailed access to the drug.
In August, the Appeals Court ruled that the pill should remain legal in the country but with significant restrictions on patients’ access to it.
While the Supreme Court considers the case, the ruling has been temporarily suspended.
The New York Times:
The battle over the medication could have wide-ranging consequences for access to the drug even in states where abortion is legal, as well as for the Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory authority over other drugs.
At issue is the availability of mifepristone, the first pill taken in a two-drug regimen for medication abortion that is currently used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the United States. More than five million women in the United States have used mifepristone to terminate their pregnancies, and dozens of other countries have approved the drug for use.
Elijah Schaffer discusses the case and its implications in the latest episode of Beyond the Headlines.