ACLU Comment on Supreme Court Administrative Stay in Mifepristone Case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court granted an administrative stay of a decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that severely restricted the use of mifepristone — a medication used in half the abortions in this country — and threatened people’s access to a wide range of critical, even life-saving drugs. The stay will remain in place until Wednesday, April 19 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, issued the following statement:

“We are pleased that the court took the only sensible action here, which was to hit pause on a profoundly dangerous decision that has been widely criticized as unprecedented and wholly unprincipled by experts across the ideological spectrum.

“Today’s ruling is just the first step: Now the courts must put an end to this baseless case – which is part of anti-abortion extremists' plan to ban abortion nationwide. It threatens access not only to abortion and miscarriage care, but also to a wide swath of critical and life-saving medications. No matter what happens next, we know this fight is far from over.”