Supreme Court Pauses Lower Court Rulings to Keep Mifepristone Accessible

The Supreme Court has ruled to pause lower court rulings that would have imposed restrictions on mifepristone, a drug used in medical abortions. The Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, which makes the name brand version of mifepristone, Mifeprex, had asked the justices to step in after a federal appeals court kept in place a number of provisions in Kacsmaryk’s order that would have imperiled widespread access to the drug.

The court blocked in full a decision by Texas U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on April 7 that had invalidated the Food and Drug Administration’s longtime approval of mifepristone and handed a sweeping victory to abortion opponents. The initial lawsuit rested on dubious standing grounds and was infused with anti-abortion myths, and was strategically placed to travel through a circuit of notoriously right-wing courts up to the far-right Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court’s decision to pause the lower court rulings will keep the drug accessible while the case proceeds. This ruling has been met with relief from those who were concerned about the potential danger this case posed to the Food and Drug Administration’s functioning, drug approval process.

The Supreme Court’s decision to pause the lower court rulings is a victory for those who wish to keep mifepristone accessible, and will allow the case to proceed without restrictions on the drug. The ruling is seen as a positive step towards ensuring that the drug remains available to those who need it.