Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill for now

The Supreme Court is seen on Friday, April 21, 2023, in Washington after the court decided to preserve women's access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues. The justices on Friday granted emergency requests from the Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, maker of the drug mifepristone. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Supreme Court on Friday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues.

The justices granted emergency requests from the Biden administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, maker of the drug mifepristone. They are appealing a lower court ruling that would roll back Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone.

The drug has been approved for use in the U.S. since 2000 and more than 5 million people have used it. Mifepristone is used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, in more than half of all abortions in the U.S.