The US Supreme Court on Thursday intervened in the dispute over the availability of abortions and temporarily allowed delivery of the most widely used abortion pill containing the substance mifepristone by mail. In doing so, the court overturned a recent appeals court decision stemming from a lawsuit by conservative Louisiana.
The US Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily allowed mail delivery of the most widely used abortion pill with the active substance mifepristone. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
- The US Supreme Court temporarily allowed delivery of the abortion pill by mail.
- The Louisiana Court of Appeals initially ordered personal pick-up of mifepristone at medical facilities.
- The 2022 decision shifted abortion regulation from the federal level to individual states.
Ban from Louisiana
It is one of two active substances commonly used by doctors in the United States to end early pregnancy without surgery. At the beginning of May, the delivery of the abortion pill by mail was suspended by the appeals court.
It was a lawsuit by the state of Louisiana against the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This southern state has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the US. The appeals court ruled that women seeking abortions must pick up mifepristone in person at medical facilities, and at the same time banned its delivery by mail or personal collection at a pharmacy.
The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000. The drug is given along with misoprostol, which causes the uterus to empty. This combination is approved to terminate a pregnancy within 70 days.
The abortion issue in the US
In June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade in 1973, which recognized a woman’s right to choose an abortion before a certain stage of pregnancy. The decision was based on the right to privacy under the US Constitution. The US Supreme Court overturned it in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which shifted federal protection of the right to abortion back to individual US states. Since then, around 20 states have banned or restricted abortion.
Polls show that a majority of Americans support maintaining access to safe abortion methods. In contrast, conservative groups are pushing for their restriction or complete ban.
The US Supreme Court already rejected a proposal to limit mifepristone in 2024 on the grounds that opponents of the drug lacked legal standing to file a lawsuit.
