The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case over access to the abortion medication mifepristone after a Texas-based federal judge restricted availability earlier this year, the high court announced Wednesday.
Mifepristone is a drug used to self-manage abortions and miscarriages. It was approved by the Federal Drug Administration more than 20 years ago but Amarillo-based federal District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee known in part , revoked that approval earlier this year.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals later said the drug would remain available, but with restrictions that include use for up to seven weeks of pregnancy instead of the 10-week limit imposed when the FDA expanded the timeframe in 2016. The appeals court also limited the drug鈥檚 availability via mail.
The appellate court鈥檚 decision has been on hold while the case plays out.
The Center for Reproductive Rights said the Supreme Court made the right decision to review the issue, but cautioned the justices could gut access to abortion even further after its decision last year to reverse the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which granted access to abortion for decades.
鈥淚n the wake of the Supreme Court鈥檚 reversal of鈥�Roe v. Wade, abortion via medication that can be prescribed in a telehealth visit and delivered to the privacy of one鈥檚 home has been critical,鈥� Nancy Northup, the president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a statement. 鈥淎bortion pills have been used safely in the U.S. for more than 20 years, and they are more important than ever in this post-Roe鈥痩andscape. That is precisely why the anti-abortion movement is attacking them.鈥�
The Supreme Court鈥檚 decision to hear the case comes days after a Texas woman was forced to leave the state to have an abortion. Kate Cox was originally that allowed her to have the procedure after learning her fetus was diagnosed with a condition that is almost always fatal. She was also warned by doctors that continuing the pregnancy to delivery could have a severe impact on her health and ability to carry future pregnancies.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the ruling and .