Decision on access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone was temporarily halt by the US Supreme court on Friday.
Justice Samuel Alito temporarily halted lower court rulings that had set limits on access to the abortion pill buy some time to weigh the bid by President Joe Biden’s administration to defend the drug from a challenge by anti-abortion groups.
The stay signed by architect of last year’s blockbuster opinion that overturned the constitutional US right to an abortion, asked the parties to submit their briefs by Tuesday.
The halt stemmed from an emergency request by the Department of Justice to put on hold a ruling by US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas.
Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, had also asked the US Supreme Court for similar relief on Friday.
“The resulting disruption would deny women lawful access to a drug [the US Food and Drug Administration] deemed a safe and effective alternative to invasive surgical abortion,” the Department of Justice wrote in its filing (PDF).
“That disruptive result would profoundly harm women, the nation’s healthcare system, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and the public interest,” it added.
The Biden administration has been seeking ways to protect reproductive rights in the face of growing restrictions enacted by Republican-led states. The friction sparked off last week when a conservative federal judge in Texas ordered a nationwide ban on mifepristone, in response to a lawsuit by an anti-abortion coalition challenging the FDA’s approval of the drug in 2000.