The Supreme Court Wednesday extended for two days a pause on a ban on mailing the popular abortion drug mifepristone nationwide.
In a last-minute one-page ruling signed by Justice Samuel Alito, the top court stretched the pause for just 48 hours until Friday at 11:59 p.m.
If the court does not act by then, the new restrictions will go into effect.
The brief ruling did not give any clues as to what actions the Supreme Court may be considering.
An anti-abortion group Tuesday filed a brief asking the top court to allow a lower court’s controversial ruling to go into effect immediately even as an appeals court makes a final decision.
The federal Department of Justice and drugmaker Danco have filed their own court papers asking the court to put the entire decision on hold for the time being.
The ruling as it stands would bar American women from receiving mailed prescriptions of the medication used in about half of all abortions.
It would also outlaw mifepristone’s use by women after seven weeks of pregnancy, a severe restriction from the 10-week limit approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The Supreme Court teed up the decision last week when it temporarily delayed implementation of the decision by the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
That panel imposed the strict new rules while it hears arguments on an even stricter ruling by a lower court judge that would ban the drug altogether even though it has been on the market for 20 years and has been safely used by more than 5 million Americans.
The ruling is the top court’s first major foray into the abortion minefield since its controversial decision last year to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision granting the right to abortion nationwide.
In the controversial Dobbs decision, the court said it was leaving the question of abortion up to the states, a ruling that has prompted most Republican-run states to enact effective bans on the procedure.
But the mifepristone decision would ban use of the drug in all states, even those like New York that have strong pro-choice protections enshrined in law. Other drugs can be used for medication abortion, but they are less safe and effective.
If approved, the mifepristone decision could stir a hornet’s nest of anger among women and pro-choice advocates, particularly in blue states that were not previously directly affected by the rollback of abortion rights.
Democrats vow to make pro-life Republicans pay at the polls for enacting abortion bans that are opposed by significant majorities of the public.
Even former President Donald Trump has warned GOP allies that the abortion issue is “a loser” for Republicans in 2024.
The mifepristone case could potentially be even bigger than abortion.
The FDA is authorized to determine whether drugs are safe. The original ruling by Texas District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk opens the door to judges banning other drugs based on their own interpretation of safety data or other factors.
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