Supreme Court temporarily upholds access to abortion pill

It’s a short reprieve. The US Supreme Court temporarily suspended, on Friday April 14, the decision of a lower court restricting access to the abortion pill in the United States. This suspension is valid until Wednesday before midnight, in order to allow the various camps to present their arguments.

Last week, a federal judge in Texas, seized by anti-abortion activists, withdrew marketing authorization for mifepristone, one of two pills used for medical abortion in the country. He had provided for a one-week delay before his decision would apply. Seized by the federal government, an appeal court had partially invalidated the judge’s decision, allowing the abortion pill to remain authorized for the moment, but in a more restrictive manner. His judgment notably amounted to prohibiting the mailing of mifepristone and to return to a use limited to seven weeks of pregnancy, instead of ten.

These restrictions were due to apply at 1 a.m. Saturday. The Supreme Court had been urgently seized by the Biden government, which asked it to act before restrictions on access to this pill, ordered by an appeals court, take effect overnight from Friday to Saturday.