Supreme Court temporarily preserves abortion pill access

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld nationwide access to the abortion pill mifepristone — at least for the time being. 

In its first major weigh-in since overturning Roe v. Wade, the court blocked a prior decision by Texas U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk that would have overturned the FDA's approval of the drug. The Supreme Court issued a brief emergency action against Kacsmaryk's ruling, and did not specify why they blocked his decision. However, the case is expected to be continually litigated in the coming months, and it is likely that the justices upheld the status quo simply to give themselves time to consider their next steps.

However, this decision by the Supreme Court means that mifepristone will remain on the market for the foreseeable future, and marks a significant victory for the Biden administration, which has fought to codify abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The Court's ruling means that mifepristone will also remain available by mail and take it at home up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy, NBC News reported. 

In a statement, President Biden praised the court's decision, saying Kacsmaryk's ruling "undermined the FDA's medical judgment and put women's health at risk."

The liberal-leaning decision was made despite the fact that the Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. However, two conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, did issue dissenting opinions. 

While Thomas did not explain his reasoning, Alito issued a dissenting opinion claiming that the public would not have been harmed if the court had allowed Kacsmaryk's ruling. "It would simply restore the circumstances that existed (and that the government defended) from 2000 to 2016 under three presidential administrations," Alito wrote, per The Washington Post. Alito added that Kacsmaryk's ruling "would not express any view on the merits of the question whether the FDA acted lawfully in any of its actions regarding mifepristone."