The Supreme Court is once again being asked to make a major ruling on abortion in an election year.
A manufacturer of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone asked the Supreme Court on Friday to reverse a lower court ruling that, if allowed to go into effect, would restrict access to the drug.
The filing obtained by CNN that means that the justices could finally decide the long-running abortion-related dispute next summer, putting the court in the middle of US presidential and congressional politics.
As things stand, mifepristone remains available and not subject to restrictions the lower courts have said should be imposed on its use until all legal challenges are resolved because of an order the justices signed in April. Medication abortion makes up the majority of abortions obtained in the United States.
Jessica L. Ellsworth, a lawyer for Danco laboratories, a manufacturer of the drug and an intervenor in the case told the justices in court papers that "for the women and teenage girls, health care providers and States that depend on FDA's actions to ensure safe and effective reproductive health care is available, this case matters tremendously."
She said the court should take up the dispute because it "affects the availability of a drug with lawful uses in States across the country" and "raises questions about whether a single federal court can limit abortion access in the States that protect it."
A decision by the conservative 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals last month "destabilizes" the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries "by questioning when scientific studies -- accepted by FDA -- are sufficient to support conditions of use," Ellsworth added.
The Biden administration, also a party to the case, has said previously that it also plans to appeal.
The case is the most important abortion related dispute to come before the justices since the landmark decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and triggered conservative states across the country to either ban or severely restrict the procedure. The new case could make it harder for women to access abortion even in states that still allow it.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
