SCOTUS acts to keep abortion pill available for now

The Supreme Court acted Friday to keep the abortion pill mifepristone widely available as a pivotal case works its way through the courts, Fox News Digital reported.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented. No justices appointed by former President Donald Trump publicly followed suit, the New York Times reported.

"As is common practice, the Supreme Court has decided to maintain the status quo that existed prior to our lawsuit while our challenge to the FDA’s illegal approval of chemical abortion drugs and its removal of critical safeguards for those drugs moves forward," said Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Erik Baptist in a statement.

Baptist explained that the case will continue on an expedited basis through the lower courts.

"The FDA must answer for the damage it has caused to the health of countless women and girls and the rule of law by failing to study how dangerous the chemical abortion drug regimen is and unlawfully removing every meaningful safeguard, even allowing for mail-order abortions."

ADF represents the plaintiff in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. ADF says the United States Food & Drug Administration's failure to study the safety of the abortion pill regimen "eliminated necessary safeguards for pregnant girls and women." Further, ADF says the FDA disregarded evidence that chemical abortions lead to more complications than their surgical counterparts.

The case quickly made its way to the emergency docket after dueling rulings earlier this month lead to considerable confusion, as Politico reported. The first ruling, in Texas, invalidated the FDA's approval of the drug. A second decision in the state of Washington, on the same day, directed the FDA to keep it available.

The same progressives who were pleased with the court's Friday decision viciously derided that same court when Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022. The historic Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision largely left abortion-related lawmaking to the states, as the Wall Street Journal's editorial board noted.

"Today’s decision shows how dangerously misguided and abhorrent the ruling by Texas District Court was. While this is a temporary victory, this is hardly the end of the fight to protect women’s health choices," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a statement.

"Democrats won't stop fighting and we will prevail," he added.

"While I’m disappointed in the Court’s decision, we will continue the fight as the case continues to hold the @US_FDA accountable for endangering moms & babies through chemical abortion drugs," Senate Pro-Life Caucus chair Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) tweeted.

The case will now move back to the conservative Fifth Circuit, where a three-judge panel will hold a hearing May 17, CNN reported.

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