Washington, (EFE).- The United States Supreme Court temporarily blocks an order from a lower court that restricted access to the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued an order freezing the decision until Wednesday, after the Justice Department filed an emergency request asking the court to intervene in the case.
The decision of the Supreme Court gave until Tuesday at noon for the plaintiffs to present their response. In this way, the magistrates have time to study whether or not they decide to formally grant a suspension of the sentence that restricts access to the drug at the national level.
Consequences for the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA
In the legal dispute is the health authorization that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave mifepristone 23 years ago.
A Texas judge’s decision to withdraw the FDA’s health clearance for the pill was upheld in part by a Louisiana appeals court, and the restrictions were to take effect Saturday.
In its ruling, the court stipulated that the drug can only be available up to the first seven weeks of pregnancy and that it must be picked up in person.
The Department of Justice argued before the Supreme Court that, if it entered into force, the restriction on mifepristone would have serious consequences both for those who want to abort as well as for the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA.
Political battle over abortion
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 54% of the terminations of pregnancies in the United States in 2022 were with abortion pills such as mifepristone or misoprostol.
The political and judicial battle over abortion was revived in the US in June of last year, when the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to it at the federal level, leaving the decision in the hands of each state.
After that, dozens of states governed by Republicans have restricted this practice.
The Planned Parenthood organization estimates that since then 18 of the 50 states have banned abortion or have severely restricted it, and that in 13 access to this service is practically impossible although there are exceptions.