Supreme Court Issues Administrative Stay On Texas Judge Mifepristone Decision

On Friday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay on the Texas court ruling concerning the abortion medication mifepristone. This came after the Justice Department announced on Thursday that it would seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the pill and protect Americans' access to safe and effective reproductive care.

Justice Samuel Alito signed the order asking both sides to file briefs by Tuesday over which parts of U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s April 7 Amarillo, Texas ruling should be left standing — if any — while the court considers the case.

In addition to the Biden Administration, New York-based Danco Laboratories, the maker of the pill, asked the justices to intervene.

Dueling District Court Rulings

The legal situation was further complicated when a separate federal judge in Washington state on Thursday clarified his own order from April 7 instructing the FDA not to do anything that could block mifepristone’s availability in 17 Democrat-led states suing to keep it on the market.

The two federal district court judges are in direct opposition to each other.

“This application concerns unprecedented lower court orders countermanding FDA’s scientific judgment and unleashing regulatory chaos by suspending the existing FDA-approved conditions of use for mifepristone,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, wrote Friday, less than two days after the appellate ruling.

The legal battle began in Texas and has escalated, putting widespread access to the most common method of abortion in the U.S. at stake. This comes less than a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade prompted over a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright. The case was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group representing a group of anti-abortion doctors.

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk Summarily Suspended FDA Approval of Mifepristone with NO Evidence of Harm

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk suspended the FDA's approval of mifepristone last week, also preventing the pill from being sent by mail. This ruling could significantly constrain abortion access even in states where abortion remains legal. In response, the Justice Department said it would ask the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order to stop the lower court ruling from taking effect.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans temporarily narrowed the ruling by Judge Kacsmaryk but still reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be taken and said it could not be dispensed by mail. The Supreme Court's decision could clarify the path forward, as it will decide whether to keep mifepristone more broadly available while the Biden administration's appeal plays out or vote to put the limits back in place as the appeal is resolved.

Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the Fifth Circuit's decision, stating that it "second-guesses the agency's medical experts." She warned that if this decision stands, no medication—from chemotherapy drugs to asthma medicine, blood pressure pills, and insulin—would be safe from attacks. The Supreme Court has not yet indicated if it will take up the case.