The Supreme Court of Justice has put a temporary stay on a recent federal court ruling restricting the circulation of the abortion pill mifepristone.

This decision will permit the same access to mifepristone that was available before Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the District of Amarillo, Texas, suspended the approval that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued for the sale of the drug. This is how the situation will remain until at least midnight on Wednesday, April 19, when the temporary stay period expires. The court will then consider the Biden Administration's request to remove restrictions against the pill.

Supreme Court of the United States - Order Abortion Pill (April 14 2023) by Santiago Adolfo Ospital on Scribd

Weeks of uncertainty

The Supreme Court's intervention is the latest of three changes on pill use in less than two weeks.

The first was the Kacsmaryk ruling, which reversed access to mifepristone. Then acted the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which temporarily eased the restrictions until Friday. Finally, the Supreme Court intervened, acting one day before the changes to the previous rulings were to take effect in response to a request from the Department of Justice.