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Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Friday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues.

The justices granted emergency requests from the Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, maker of the drug mifepristone. They are appealing a lower-court ruling that would roll back Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone.

The drug has been approved for use in the U.S. since 2000 and more than 5 million people have used it. Mifepristone is used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, in more than half of all abortions in the U.S.

The court’s action Friday almost certainly will leave access to mifepristone unchanged at least into next year, as appeals play out, including a potential appeal to the high court.

Justices Samuel Alito, the author of last year’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and Clarence Thomas voted to allow restrictions to take effect. No other justices commented.

President Joe Biden praised the high court for keeping mifepristone available while the court fight continues.

“The stakes could not be higher for women across America. I will continue to fight politically-driven attacks on women’s health. But let’s be clear - the American people must continue to use their vote as their voice, and elect a Congress who will pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade,” Biden said in a statement.

The justices weighed arguments that allowing restrictions contained in lower-court rulings to take effect would severely disrupt the availability of mifepristone.

The Supreme Court had initially said it would decide by Wednesday whether the restrictions could take effect while the case continues. A one-sentence order signed by Alito on Wednesday gave the justices two additional days, without explanation.

The challenge to mifepristone, brought by abortion foes, is the first abortion controversy to reach the nation’s highest court since its conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade 10 months ago and allowed more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright.

In his majority opinion last June, Alito said one reason for overturning Roe was to remove federal courts from the abortion fight. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” he wrote.

But even with their court victory, abortion opponents returned to federal court with a new target: medication abortions, which make up more than half of all abortions in the United States.

Women seeking to end their pregnancies in the first 10 weeks without more invasive surgical abortion can take mifepristone, along with misoprostol.

The Supreme Court is seen on Friday, April 21, 2023, in Washington after the court decided to preserve women's access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues. The justices on Friday granted emergency requests from the Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, maker of the drug mifepristone. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Supreme Court is seen on Friday, April 21, 2023, in Washington. The Supreme Court has preserved women's access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues. The justices on Friday granted emergency requests from the Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, maker of the drug mifepristone. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Activist Nadine Seiler of Waldorf, Md., demonstrates in front of the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2023, as she laments the absence of people to protest the conservative majority on the high court. Justices are leaving women's access to an abortion pill untouched until at least Friday, while they consider whether to allow restrictions on mifepristone to take effect. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Supreme Court is seen on Friday, April 21, 2023, in Washington. The Supreme Court has preserved women's access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues. The justices on Friday granted emergency requests from the Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, maker of the drug mifepristone. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The Supreme Court is seen, Friday, April 21, 2023, ahead of an abortion pill decision in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
FILE - A patient prepares to take the first of two combination pills, mifepristone, for a medication abortion during a visit to a clinic in Kansas City, Kan., on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. The Supreme Court is facing a self-imposed Friday, April 21, 2023, night deadline to decide whether womenâ??s access to a widely used abortion pill will stay unchanged until a legal challenge to its Food and Drug Administration approval is resolved. The justices are weighing arguments that allowing restrictions contained in lower-court rulings to take effect would severely disrupt the availability of the drug, mifepristone, which is used in the most common abortion method in the United States. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. The Supreme Court is facing a self-imposed Friday, April 21, 2023, night deadline to decide whether womenâ??s access to a widely used abortion pill will stay unchanged until a legal challenge to its Food and Drug Administration approval is resolved. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)
Staff with the group, Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, Kristin Turner, of San Francisco, left, Lauren Handy, of Washington, and Caroline Smith, of Washington, right, demonstrate against abortion pills outside of the Supreme Court, Friday, April 21, 2023, ahead of an abortion pill decision by the court in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Activist Nadine Seiler of Waldorf, Md., demonstrates in front of the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 20, 2023, as she laments the absence of people to protest the conservative majority on the high court. Justices are leaving women's access to an abortion pill untouched until at least Friday, while they consider whether to allow restrictions on mifepristone to take effect. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - The Supreme Court is seen, with a carving of Justice in the foreground, April 19, 2023, in Washington. The Supreme Court is facing a self-imposed Friday night deadline to decide whether womenâ??s access to a widely used abortion pill will stay unchanged until a legal challenge to its Food and Drug Administration approval is resolved. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)