The US Supreme Court temporarily suspended Friday, April 14, the decision of a lower court, a judgment that temporarily maintains access to mifepristone, the most common abortion pill in the United States.
The suspension is valid until Wednesday before midnight to allow the parties to present their arguments, the Supreme Court said in its decision.
The temple of American law had been seized urgently by the Biden administration, which asked it to act before restrictions on access to this pill, ordered by an appeals court, take effect on the night of Friday to Saturday.
Legal ping-pong
Last week, a federal judge in Texas, seized by anti-abortion activists, withdrew the marketing authorization of mifepristone, one of two pills used for a medical abortion. He had set a one-week delay before his decision would apply.
Seized by the federal government, the Court of Appeal had partially overturned the judge's decision, allowing the abortion pill to remain authorized for the time being – but he had reversed the access facilities granted by the US Drug Agency (FDA) over the years, since its authorization in 2000.
His judgment included prohibiting the mailing of mifepristone, and returning to a use limited to seven weeks of pregnancy, instead of ten.
These restrictions, which were supposed to apply at 1 a.m. on Saturday, are now suspended until Wednesday.
This legal battle is the latest twist in the assault on abortion rights in the United States.
With AFP
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