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President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block limits set by lower courts on the abortion pill mifepristone as the federal government seeks to defend access to the drug in the face of mounting abortion bans and restrictions enacted by Republican-led states.
The Justice Department filed an emergency request asking the justices to put on hold a ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas to significantly restrict the pill’s distribution while litigation in the challenge by anti-abortion groups to mifepristone’s regulatory approval proceeds.
Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, also asked the U.S. Supreme Court for similar relief on Friday.
Curbing access to mifepristone would deal another major setback to U.S. abortion rights on the national level after the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized the procedure across the country. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
Kacsmaryk’s order – a preliminary injunction – was set to take effect at 12 a.m. CDT (0500 GMT) on Saturday, according to the Justice Department.
In a case that could also undercut the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authority to decide on the safety of drugs, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday declined the administration’s request to block the restrictions ordered by Kacsmaryk on April 7.
The 5th Circuit halted another part of Kacsmaryk’s order that would have suspended the FDA’s approval of the drug, effectively pulling it off the market.
