Justice Dept and abortion pill manufacturer ask Supreme Court to hear case on mifepristone access

Danco Laboratories, the drugmaker of the abortion pill mifepristone, has asked the Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision limiting access to the pill, the company announced in a news release Friday. On Friday evening, the Justice Department also asked the Supreme Court to review the Fifth Circuit’s judgment in the case. 

Danco is asking the Supreme Court to reverse an appellate court ruling that would prevent women from obtaining the drug by mail order and would prohibit the pill after seven weeks of pregnancy. 

Last month, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling that allowed the pill to remain legal, but with significant hurdles to patient access. The Fifth Circuit upheld the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the widely used pill, but said actions the FDA took in recent years to make the pill easier to obtain went too far. 

The Justice Department has also said it would appeal the Fifth Circuit’s decision, and Danco on Friday said it expects the federal government to file a petition, too. 

An earlier Supreme Court order in April ensured the drug will remain accessible either until the highest court takes up the case and issues a ruling, or turns down a request to review the Fifth Circuit’s decision. 

The White House has vocally opposed the changes the Fifth Circuit’s decision would make to access to the pill. 

“Due to the Supreme Court’s stay, mifepristone remains broadly available for now,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said after the Fifth Circuit’s decision. “But if the Fifth Circuit’s ruling stands, it will significantly roll back the ability for women in every state to get the health care they need, and undermine FDA’s scientific, evidence-based process for approving safe and effective medications that patients rely on.”

Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.

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