WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court temporarily paused through at least Wednesday a court order that would have restricted a commonly used abortion drug nationwide in a brief order issued Friday afternoon.
The order, from Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., gives challengers to the 2000 Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug mifepristone until Tuesday at noon to respond.
Earlier on Friday, the Justice Department and a pharmaceutical company asked the high court to intervene following a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit partially upholding the lower court order restricting availability of the drug that would have taken effect this weekend. The applications from the DOJ and Danco Laboratories, which makes the drug mifepristone, asked the justices to stop a ruling from the 5th Circuit that would limit the availability of the drug while an appeal plays out.
