WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and a pharmaceutical company on Friday asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the court fight over a commonly used abortion drug in order to keep a court ruling restricting availability of the drug from taking effect this weekend.
The applications from the DOJ and Danco Laboratories, which makes the drug mifepristone, went to Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who hears emergency appeals from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
The applications asked the justices to stop a ruling from the 5th Circuit that would limit the availability of the drug while an appeal plays out. The DOJ argued that the appeals court ruling would limit abortion access nationwide and conflicts with a separate ruling from a district court in Washington state to preserve the status quo for the drug’s availability in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
