HIGH COURT ASKED TO TAKE UP ABORTION PILL CASE

The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Friday evening to hear a challenge to the availability of a commonly used abortion pill, mifepristone, raising the possibility that the justices will rule on the fate of the drug.

The move sets up a showdown over access to the pill, which is used in more than half of all pregnancy terminations in the United States, and would bring the issue of abortion back to the court more than a year after the justices eliminated the constitutional right to it. The case could also have implications for the pharmaceutical industry, including the Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory authority over other medications.

The request came in response to a ruling by a federal appeals court last month that upheld the legality of the pill but imposed significant restrictions on its distribution. The ruling by a three-judge panel would prevent the drug from being sent through the mail or prescribed by telemedicine.

For now, the pill remains available because the Supreme Court determined in April that access to the drug would remain unchanged until the appeals process finished.

The court, which is likely to act in the coming months, could decline to hear the case, leaving the lower court’s decision in place. Or it could agree to hear the case.

The Justice Department, in its filing, called the appeals court ruling an “unprecedented decision” that “would threaten to severely disrupt the pharmaceutical industry and prevent FDA from fulfilling its statutory responsibilities according to its scientific judgment.”

The department also vouched for the efficacy and safety of the pill, pointing to studies that have shown that “serious adverse events are exceedingly rare.” It argued that losing access to the pill “would be damaging for women and health care providers around the nation.”

Danco Laboratories, a manufacturer of mifepristone, filed a similar request Friday, saying the case was of “indisputable importance” and outlining the wide-ranging reverberations of any decision.