In this 2018 photo, mifepristone and misoprostol pills are provided at a Carafem clinic for medication abortions in Skokie, Ill.
Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The Justice Department is seeking emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court in a Texas case involving limited access to the abortion drug mifepristone.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that mifespristone, which in the U.S. is used in most medication abortions and to treat miscarriages, is approved for use up to seven weeks of pregnancy during the appeals process, but could no longer be dispensed by mail.
This was a dial back from the previous approval of up to 10 weeks and access to the prescribed medication through the mail.
“The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA to deny in part our request for a stay pending appeal. We will be seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend the FDA’s scientific judgment and protect Americans’ access to safe and effective reproductive care,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland wrote in a statement announcing the Justice Department’s action.
Lawyers for the Biden administration had previously asked the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency stay on a lower court’s injunction ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk that was slated to go into effect Friday and would block the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.
Department of Justice lawyers argued that “the district court upended decades of reliance by blocking FDA’s approval of mifepristone and depriving patients of access to this safe and effective treatment, based on the court’s own misguided assessment of the drug’s safety.”
The Supreme Court has not yet indicated if it will take up the case.
This story will be updated.