Biden administration to bring abortion pill case to Supreme Court

World
By William

The decision comes shortly after an appeals court imposed numerous restrictions on access to abortion pills.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will ask the Supreme Court to drop restrictions on the sale of the abortion pill mifepristone, shortly after an appeals court decision that reversed an earlier ruling that would have revoked the pill’s approval for use , narrowed.

That appeals court nonetheless placed numerous restrictions on the availability of mifepristone, preventing it from being shipped or distributed to patients between seven and 10 weeks of gestation, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed in recent years.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated Thursday that the DOJ would seek emergency help from the Supreme Court as the Biden administration tries to defend access to abortion pills.

“We will seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend the FDA’s scientific judgment and protect Americans’ access to safe and effective reproductive care,” Garland said in a statement. rack Thursday.

Access to abortion pills like mifepristone has become a focus of anti-abortion rights groups following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade last June, which abolished the constitutional right to abortion in the US. In the months since, numerous Republican-led states have enacted sweeping abortion bans.

Last Friday, Texas District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a court order that would have temporarily suspended FDA approval for mifepristone while he heard lawsuits over access to the pill.

That decision was quickly challenged by the Biden administration, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled late Wednesday that mifepristone could still be used.

However, in a two-for-one decision, the appeals court upheld certain restrictions, effectively reversing the guidelines the FDA issued in 2016 to ease access to mifepristone.

Those 2016 rules allowed mifepristone to be dispensed without a visit to a doctor’s office and allowed women up to 10 weeks pregnant to take the pill, increased to seven weeks.

In his statement, Garland said the DOJ “strongly disagrees” with the appeals court decision and would appeal these restrictions to the Supreme Court.

Abortion pills, such as mifepristone, account for more than half of all abortions in the US and are safe to use in a private setting. In addition, mifepristone is used to treat miscarriages and Cushing’s disease.

The FDA, the federal agency that determines the safety of drugs and medicines, approved the use of mifepristone more than 20 years ago, and the Biden administration has said Kacsmaryk’s ruling undermines the agency’s ability to make scientific determinations about undermined drug safety.

“We will continue to fight in the courts, we believe the law is on our side and we will prevail,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday.

The DOJ’s decision to appeal the ruling was greeted by pro-abortion rights politicians and advocacy groups.

“The Justice Department is right to oppose last night’s appeals court ruling blocking the shipment of the abortion pill mifepristone by mail. This drug has been safe to use for decades,” California Congresswoman Katie Porter said on Twitter. “The extremists’ drive to restrict abortion is not about science or safety; it’s about misogyny.”

In a Twitter post on Thursday, Jeanne Mancini, president of the anti-abortion rights group March for Life, said the group was “satisfied” with the court’s decision to uphold what it called “common sense” restrictions.

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