The Supreme Court Has Delayed Its Abortion Pill Decision

The legal saga over the abortion pill mifepristone isn’t over yet. On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court extended its own deadline to decide on the fate of the drug until Friday by just before midnight Eastern Time. 

The pill will remain on the market for at least the next few days. The Supreme Court’s decision on access to the pill will likely be the most important ruling on reproductive rights since the court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2000, mifepristone is the first dose in a two-pill regimen to induce an abortion in the first trimester. In recent years, the FDA has taken measures to make it more accessible, including making it available by mail and allowing patients to take the drug up until 10 weeks of pregnancy. Medication abortion now accounts for a little over half of all abortions in the US. 

On April 7, US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Texas ruled to revoke the FDA’s approval of mifepristone and make it illegal throughout the country, writing that the drug is unsafe and its authorization in 2000…