US supreme court temporarily restores access to mifepristone abortion pill | US supreme court
The US supreme court on Monday restored broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone, blocking a decision that threatened to upend one of the main ways abortions are provided across the country.
The order, signed by Justice Samuel Alito, temporarily allows women seeking abortions to obtain the pill from pharmacies or by mail without going to a doctor in person.
Those rules were in place for several years until a federal appeals court imposed new restrictions on Friday.
The majority of abortions in the United States are achieved through medications, usually a combination of mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol. Their availability has blunted the impact of abortion bans, which most Republican-led states have begun to implement since the 2022 US supreme court decision overturning federal abortion access established by Roe v Wade and allowing state bans.
Louisiana sued to restrict access to mifepristone, arguing that its availability undermined the ban there.
Some Democratic-led states have laws aimed at providing legal protection to people who prescribe medications via telehealth to patients in states with bans.
Alito’s order will remain in effect for another week before both sides will respond and the court will consider the matter further.
Mifepristone manufacturers have filed an emergency appeal asking the US supreme court to step in.
