HIGH-STAKES

Supreme Court Puts Temporary Hold on Ruling Banning Abortion Pill

The stay, issued by Justice Samuel Alito, will expire Wednesday at midnight and is no indication of how the court intends to eventually rule.

As the legal battle over the abortion medication mifepristone heats up, the Supreme Court has issued a temporary stay to preserve access to the drug while justices examine the case. The stay, issued by Justice Samuel Alito, will expire Wednesday at midnight and is no indication of how the court intends to eventually rule. The battle over mifepristone began when a Trump-appointed judge in west Texas overturned the FDA’s approval of the drug, jeopardizing access across the country to a medication that is now used in over half of all abortions. After an intervention by the Biden administration, an appeals court in New Orleans issued a mixed ruling putting the case on a fast track to the Supreme Court and marking the high court's first major ruling on reproductive rights since its overturn of Roe v. Wade in June.