The timing of the order was a surprise, coming after the closing of deals in the last days of the Trump administration and before the possible impeachment vote by the House on Wednesday.
Federal courts, citing the Covid-19 pandemic, had previously blocked the application of the Food and Drug Administration rules that require a personal visit to a medical professional to withdraw the drug.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said it believed the government should be able to enforce the rule, despite concerns about the coronavirus.
“Here, as in contexts related to the government’s responses to the pandemic, my opinion is that the courts owe significant deference to politically responsible entities with ‘history, competence and experience to assess public health’,” wrote the president of the court. of justice John Roberts in explaining his vote.
CNN contributor and law professor Steve Vladeck noted the unusual moment of the decision and the potentially profound implications for Roe v. Wade, the historic Supreme Court decision of 1973 that legalized abortion across the country before viability, which can occur around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
“Since the Biden government is eight days away, the chances that this FDA rule will be in the books for much longer seem very slim,” said Vladeck. “The far greater importance of tonight’s decision is the precursor it seems to provide for how the new conservative majority will approach abortion cases.”
Liberal disagreement
In her dissent, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, accompanied by Judge Elena Kagan, cited a previous opinion of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a staunch supporter of abortion rights that Barrett replaced in court.
“Since FDA policy imposes an unnecessary, unjustifiable, irrational and undue burden on women seeking abortion during the current pandemic, and because the government has not shown irreparable damage to the injunction, I disagree,” wrote Sotomayor.
Sotomayor and Kagan signaled their hope that the Biden government “will show greater care and empathy for women who seek some measure of control over their health and reproductive life in these difficult times.”
Court fight since summer
Medical abortion, an effective non-surgical procedure until about 10 weeks pregnant, usually involves taking two drugs several days apart. The contested regulation concerns mifepristone, the first drug that blocks the hormone progesterone, necessary for the continuation of pregnancy.
This case concerns the abortion ban in Mississippi after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which Republican Governor Phil Bryant signed into law in 2018. The law made exceptions only for medical emergencies or cases where there is a “serious fetal abnormality”, but not for incidents rape or incest. A federal judge in Mississippi overturned the law in November 2018, and the United States Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling last year.
Joan Biskupic of CNN contributed to this report.