Biden administration takes abortion pill fight to SC

WASHINGTON: The US Justice Department filed an 11th hour appeal with the Supreme Court on Friday to fight restrictions on a widely used abortion pill, in the latest legal salvo over reproductive rights.

The move comes a day after Florida became the latest US state to severely curtail access to abortion in the wake of last year´s Supreme Court ruling that ended the constitutional right nationwide.

Taking the fight back to the nation´s highest court, the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden urged it to freeze recent lower court rulings that would ban or impose limits on use of the drug mifepristone -- scheduled to take effect at 1:00 am Eastern Time (0500 GMT) on Saturday.

“The lower courts´ orders will upend the status quo and scramble the complex regulatory regime governing mifepristone,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in a 47-page filing. “That disruptive result would profoundly harm women, the nation´s healthcare system, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and the public interest.”

A conservative federal judge in Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered a nationwide ban last week on mifepristone in response to a lawsuit by a coalition of anti-abortion groups challenging the FDA´s approval of the drug in 2000.