Supreme Court Decides Abortion Pill to Remain Amid Ongoing Legal Battle

April 25, 2023 • by Mimi Nguyen Ly

Mifepristone (Mifeprex) and Misoprostol, the two drugs used in a medication abortion, are seen at the Women’s Reproductive Clinic, which provides legal medication abortion services, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on June 17, 2022. Mifepristone is taken first to stop the pregnancy, followed by Misoprostol to induce bleeding. – In the wake of Friday’s ruling by the US Supreme Court striking down Roe v Wade and the federally protected right to an abortion, women from Texas and other states are traveling to clinics like the Women’s Reproductive Health Clinic in New Mexico for legal abortion services under the state’s more liberal laws. – RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Friday that mifepristone, an abortion pill, will be broadly accessible amid an ongoing legal battle over its regulatory approval.

Mifepristone, approved in 2000 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is part of a chemical abortion process and is generally taken with another drug called misoprostol to kill an unborn child in pregnancies up to 10 weeks. It is also sometimes used for women who have miscarriages.

Chemical abortion, also referred to as medication abortion, comprises more than half of total U.S. abortions.

In a brief order, the majority of the Supreme Court justices on Friday granted emergency requests by the Biden administration’s Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, a manufacturer of the drug. The decision puts on hold a preliminary injunction issued on April 7 by a Trump-appointed Texas federal judge, Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, which had frozen the drug’s FDA approval.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito publicly dissented from the decision. In a brief opinion, Alito wrote that the administration and Danco “are not entitled to a stay because they have not shown that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the interim.” No other justices commented.

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