The Justice Department announced Thursday that it will appeal to the Supreme Court again. Over abortion after a lower court verdict permitted the abortion pill mifepristone to stay available in the United States but reinstated previous limits on obtaining and using the drug.
The escalating legal struggle that began in Texas is over widespread access to the most frequent type of abortion in the United States. Less than a year after the Roe v. Wade decision spurred more than a dozen states to effectively outlaw abortion outright.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans temporarily narrowed a finding by a lower court judge in Texas. That had fully halted the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone in a ruling issued late Wednesday. However, a three-judge panel split on whether the medicine may be taken during pregnancy and whether it could be administered by mail.
The order prohibiting the abortion pill from being mailed amounts to yet another substantial restriction on abortion access. That might be felt even in places where abortion is still legal. Some of which have already begun storing mifepristone due to concerns that the medicine will become unavailable.
The Justice Department said that it would seek an emergency order from the United States Supreme Court to prevent the lower court ruling from taking effect.
“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 said Thursday from Dublin, where President Joe Biden was visiting.
Mifepristone was licensed by the FDA over two decades ago and is used in conjunction with another medicine called misoprostol.
