(NewsNation) — The U.S. Supreme Court has preserved access to an abortion drug while a legal fight plays out in the lower courts.
Earlier this week, the nation’s highest court temporarily extended a stay prohibiting restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone from going into effect after a legal battle in Texas.
A federal judge in the state, Matthew Kacsmaryk, suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.
According to NewsNation partner The Hill, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week preserved the FDA’s original approval of mifepristone as the Biden administration appeals the case — but other portions of Kacsmaryk’s decision were still allowed to go into effect.
This 5th Circuit ruling would make it so only doctors would be able to prescribe the abortion pill and mailing it would not be allowed, along with other restrictions, per The Hill.
The Supreme Court’s ruling keeps an injunction on Kacsmaryk’s entire ruling while the appeal proceeds in the 5th Circuit. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have denied the stay.
In a dissent, Alito said relief wasn’t needed because the appeal has already been put on a fast track in the 5th Circuit and because the applicants wouldn’t suffer irreparable harm if an injunction were not issued.
In effect, the court’s ruling means the drug will be “available as it was over the course of the last several years in accordance with FDA regulations until it comes back to the Supreme Court,” said Mike Viqueira, NewsNation’s Washington bureau chief.
On the same day that Kacsmaryk made his decision, a federal judge in Washington ruled the FDA needed to preserve access to the drug with no new restrictions after a lawsuit was filed by the District of Columbia and 17 Democratic-led states.
Although the Supreme Court initially said a decision would be made by Wednesday, Alito on Wednesday gave justices two additional days to decide whether the restrictions could take effect as the case continues.
Mifepristone, which is also used to manage miscarriages, first won FDA approval in 2000. It has repeatedly been found safe and effective, according to The Associated Press, and more than 5 million people in the U.S. have used it since its FDA approval in 2000.
When used in combination with misoprostol, mifepristone is 95% to 99% effective in ending pregnancies. Misoprostol, however, is less effective when used alone.
In a statement, President Joe Biden lauded the Supreme Court ruling, saying, “The stakes could not be higher for women across America.”
“I will continue to fight politically driven attacks on women’s health,” he said in the statement. “But let’s be clear – the American people must continue to use their vote as their voice, and elect a Congress who will pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade.”
Steph Whiteside, The Associated Press and NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this article.