US Justice Dept to Appeal Abortion Pill Restrictions at Supreme Court

The US Justice Department said Thursday that it will go to the Supreme Court to appeal restrictions imposed on a widely used abortion pill in the latest round of a fierce battle over reproductive rights. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the bill passed on Thursday by the southern state’s Republican-controlled legislature was “extreme and dangerous” and “flies in the face of fundamental freedoms.” More than a dozen US states have passed laws severely restricting abortion since the conservative-dominated Supreme Court last year overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that had enshrined the constitutional right to abortion for half a century. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department will seek “emergency relief from the Supreme Court to defend the FDA’s scientific judgment and protect Americans’ access to safe and effective reproductive care.” Speaking to reporters during Biden’s visit to Ireland, Jean-Pierre said “we believe that the law is on our side, and we will prevail.” Late Wednesday, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said mifepristone, also known as RU 486, should remain available pending a full hearing of the case, but limited access to the first seven weeks of pregnancy, down from 10. Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said that “unless the Supreme Court steps in, this decision will prevent many people from getting abortion care and force them to remain pregnant against their will.” The anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony described the appeals court ruling by two judges appointed by former Republican president Donald Trump as a “win.” “The court recognized that the abortion pill is dangerous and rolled back Biden’s reckless mail-order abortion scheme,” said Susan B. Anthony state policy director Katie Daniel.