The supreme court in the US has blocked a lower court ruling restricting the use of an abortion drug.
The justices granted emergency requests by the justice department and the manufacturer of the pill mifepristone to halt a preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge in Texas.
The decision is a victory Biden administration as it defends access to the drug in the latest legal battle over abortion in the US.
President Biden praised the ruling and said he continues to stand by the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the pill manufactured by Danco.
Biden said in a statement: “As a result of the supreme court’s stay, mifepristone remains available and approved for safe and effective use while we continue this fight in the courts. The stakes could not be higher for women across America. I will continue to fight politically driven attacks on women’s health.”
The court’s ruling means that access to mifepristone will remain unchanged at least into next year as appeals play out and patients can still get medication abortions with the drug in states where it was previously available.
Jennifer Dalven, director of the Reproductive Freedom Project at the American Civil Liberties Union said: “This is very welcome news, but it’s frightening to think that Americans came within hours of losing access to a medication that is used in most abortions in this country and has been used for decades by millions of people to safely end a pregnancy or treat a miscarriage.”
However Conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito voted against the ruling to lift the block.
Alito wrote that the Biden administration and Danco “are not entitled to a stay because they have not shown that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the interim”.
