The US Supreme Court has temporarily halted new restrictions on a commonly used abortion pill, a decision that has been welcomed by President Joe Biden. The move

was made in response to emergency requests by the Department of Justice and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, to put on hold the preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas on April 7. The injunction had imposed severe restrictions on the availability of the drug, which is the subject of a legal challenge by anti-abortion groups who contest its federal regulatory approval.

Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito publicly dissented from the decision, with Alito stating that the administration and Danco failed to demonstrate "irreparable harm." The Biden administration is attempting to defend mifepristone at a time when Republican-led states are passing increasing numbers of abortion bans and restrictions, in the wake of the Supreme Court's overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure across the country.

Mifepristone is typically used in combination with misoprostol to perform medication abortions, which account for over half of all abortions in the US. It is also used in the management of miscarriages. Anti-abortion groups, led by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, are challenging the FDA's approval of mifepristone, claiming that the FDA illegally approved the drug and removed critical safeguards on what they call a dangerous drug.

The case now goes back to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is scheduled to hear arguments on May 17. The losing side after the 5th Circuit rules could appeal the case back to the Supreme Court.

If the restrictions had been allowed to proceed, they would have reversed the FDA's actions in recent years to make it easier to access mifepristone, including allowing distribution by mail in 2021 and approving its use for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy instead of seven weeks, reducing the required dosage, and cutting the number of in-person doctor visits from three to one.

Abortion rights groups have welcomed the Supreme Court's decision but warned that the case is still ongoing. Photo by Joe Ravi, Wikimedia commons.