The US Supreme Court has extended by two days the suspension of sentences that two weeks ago significantly limited access to mifepristone, one of the two drugs used for years in the country for abortions. The suspension, which had made the drug accessible again, albeit temporarily, should have ended today, but the deadline has been postponed to Friday 21 April.
The Supreme Court itself, in fact, should have expressed itself today on the legitimacy of the sentence of a federal court in Texas which on Friday 6 April had ordered the removal of mifepristone from the market throughout the United States: according to the judge of that court, Matthew Kacsmaryk, the The Food and Drug Administration – the US government agency that deals with the regulation of food and pharmaceutical products – did not have the necessary authority to approve mifepristone when it did in 2000.
In the meantime, however, a federal appeals court had further intervened on the Texan sentence, establishing that mifepristone could continue to be sold, but with significant restrictions. Instead, the Supreme Court had blocked all these sentences issued by lower courts, pending a definitive ruling on the case, and in doing so had made mifepristone accessible again.
However, the Court’s decision, scheduled for today, has been postponed: the judges have decided to take another two days to examine the matter, until Friday 21 April.
– Read also: The dispute over the limitations on the sale of the abortion pill in the United States