The previously imposed restrictions were removed, but the legality of the drug may still change with the appeal.
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to maintain the wide availability of a drug commonly used in abortion in the country for the time being. With the decision, the restrictions on the use of the drug previously set by the appeals court have been suspended for the time being.
The decision is temporary in nature, and the legality of the drug mifepristone may still change as complaints are processed.
Two conservative justices publicly dissented from the court’s decision. However, the exact division of the judges’ opinions is not evident from the published decision, says New York Times (you will switch to another service). According to the newspaper, one or two other judges may have expressed their dissenting opinion without making it public. So at least five of the nine judges have supported the decision.
President of the United States Joe Biden said that he welcomed the news that the Supreme Court decided to maintain wide availability of the abortion pill. After the decision, he released a statement in which he assured that he would protect women’s health from political attacks.
– The stakes couldn’t be higher for women across America, the president says.
Biden also said he supports the FDA, which approved the sale of the drug mifepristone in the United States in 2000.
Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides sexual health and abortion services, also praised the decision in a tweet, but said that the availability of the drug should not have been at stake in the first place.
The legal battle began in Texas
Mifepristone is used as part of a two-agent regimen in medical abortions. The drug got into the teeth of a legal battle when a judge in Texas decided to revoke the drug’s sales license nationwide.
According to the Justice Department of the Biden administration, this decision was based on a deeply flawed assessment of the drug’s safety. The total ban was quickly overturned by the appeals court, which, however, set stricter restrictions on the use of the substance than before. After this, the ball passed to the Supreme Court.
It is the most significant abortion rights Supreme Court case in the United States since the court overturned the constitutional right to abortion less than a year ago. The court is held by a solid six-judge conservative majority.
Since the Supreme Court’s earlier decision, more than 10 states have either outlawed or restricted abortion.
Sources: AFP, Reuters