The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to allow the most commonly used abortion pill, mifepristone, to be widely available as the case continues.
A member of the South Florida's Congressional delegation is applauding the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that ordered the abortion pill mifepristone to remain broadly available as litigation plays out in a lower court.
Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat whose district includes northern Miami-Dade County and southern Broward County, called the ruling "the right decision in preserving women’s access" to the abortion medication.
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“For the last 20 years, Mifepristone has proved safe and effective, and no amount of politically motivated attacks from extremist judges can change 20 years of scientific data," Wilson said in a statement. “This is a massive win for reproductive justice and a sigh of relief for women everywhere who’ve fought to protect their bodily autonomy from anti-abortion extremists."
The high court's decision came in response to an emergency request by the Department of Justice to block lower court rulings that would severely limit access to the medication even in some states where abortion remains legal.
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The case will now be heard in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court has scheduled oral arguments for Wed., May 17 at 1 p.m. CT.
Mifepristone has become the flashpoint in the legal battle over abortion since the Supreme Court last summer overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion nationwide as a constitutional right.
Mifepristone, used in combination with another drug called misoprostol, is the most common method to terminate a pregnancy in the U.S., accounting for about half of all abortions.
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President Joe Biden said the court's decision keeps mifepristone available to women and FDA approved to terminate early pregnancies. Biden said his administration will fight to protect access to mifepristone in the ongoing legal battle in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
