The U.S. Supreme Court on April 19 temporarily extended orders that stay lower court rulings that would have restricted access to a popular abortion bill.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, extended the orders until 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday. The orders had been set to expire at the end of the day.
Alito did not provide a reason for the temporary extension, which keeps in place a stay on restrictions ordered by lower courts.
A district court judge ruled earlier this month that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration appeared to violate its legal duty to evaluate a drug’s safety when it approved mifepristone, the abortion pill, in 2022. The judge ordered a pause on the FDA’s approval.
An appeals court panel said the ruling was too broad but kept the part in place that rolled back actions the FDA took in 2016 and more recently that loosened restrictions on mifepristone, including the action that enabled dispensation by mail. The panel found the government had not proven the FDA’s actions “were not arbitrary and capricious.”
That prompted the U.S. Department of Justice and Danco Laboratories, which makes the pill, to ask the nation’s top court to step in.
Absent an emergency stay, mifepristone would not be available for some time, likely months, government lawyers and attorneys representing Danco told the court. The revision to pre-2016 standards would mean widespread changes, including alterations to product labels and promotional materials, they said. And once the changes were made, fresh changes might be needed if certain updates to the rulings had been handed down.
Alito temporarily stayed the lower court rulings on April 14. He entered the stays and the extensions because he oversees the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Each justice handles emergency requests from one or more appeals courts.
Some lawmakers and abortion advocates have proposed ignoring any court orders restricting access to mifepristone, while others have said orders should be followed.
Dr. Robert Califf, the FDA’s commissioner, told senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that the agency “intends to comply with any court orders.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.