The Supreme Court announced it will take up a case surrounding the abortion drug mifepristone.
The high court announced the move on Wednesday that will review the appeal from the Biden administration and mifepristone’s maker to reverse an appellate ruling that would prevent the drug from being sent through the mail and would restrict the use in states where abortion is still legal, The Associated Press reported.
Mifepristone is used along with a second drug in more than half of all abortions in the U.S., The Washington Post reported.
This is the first time the Supreme Court has taken up an abortion case since it overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 in Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization.
Right now mifepristone is allowed to be used at 10 weeks, but the Supreme Court may limit it to seven weeks.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circut said it was not lawful to loosen the restrictions on the pill, adding that the Food and Drug Administration did not follow procedures to allow mifepristone to be used later in pregnancy, mailed directly to patients after being prescribed by any medical professional other than doctors, the Post reported.
There was a separate appeal from those who oppose abortion that challenged the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to approve mifepristone when it determined it safe and effective in 2000 that was not taken up by the high court, USA Today reported.
The case that the court will hear will be argued in 2024 with a decision likely in late June, in the middle of the 2024 presidential and congressional campaigns, the AP reported.