Access to the abortion pill Mifepristone will remain unchanged, at least for now, after the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration and halted a lower court ruling.
Mifepristone is one of the two drugs used to abort. It was approved by the FDA more than 20 years ago, and has been used by more than 5 million people to safely end their early pregnancies.
The decision is a temporary victory for the Biden administration, which for now maintains Food and Drug Administration authority over drug approval.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, two of the court’s conservatives, said they would have denied the request for a pause.
“As a result of the Supreme Court stay, Mifepristone remains available and approved for safe and effective use as we continue this fight in the courts,” President Biden said in a statement.
“I continue to defend the FDA’s evidence-based approval of Mifepristone, and my administration will continue to defend the FDA’s expert and independent authority to review, approve, and regulate a broad range of prescription drugs,” Biden said.
“The American people must continue to use their vote as their voice and elect a Congress that passes legislation restoring the protections of Roe v Wade,” Biden said.
On April 7, US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone for 23 years. Kacsmaryk ruled that the agency’s approval process was unduly rushed and resulted in an unsafe drug regimen coming to market.
Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed part of Kacsmaryk’s ruling pending consideration of the government’s appeal, temporarily preserving the original FDA approval of mifepristone. But it left standing another part of the ruling that blocked steps the FDA has taken since 2016 to make mifepristone more accessible.
Those preserved changes include allowing mifepristone to be mailed, removing the requirement for three in-person visits, approving a generic, and approving use of the drug up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, instead of seven weeks.
