The justices will hear an appeal from the Biden administration and the maker of the branded version of
mifepristone asking the high court to reverse a ruling from a federal appeals court that significantly curtailed access to the pill, even in states where abortion remains fully legal.
While the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade and has appeared hostile to abortion, an emergency ruling by the court in April has kept access to mifepristone unchanged.
The justices rejected a separate appeal from abortion opponents who challenged the Food and Drug Administration’s initial approval of mifepristone as safe and effective in 2000.
The availability of abortion pills has made it more difficult for conservative state leaders to
enforce state restrictions on abortion because people can order them through mail-order pharmacies or travel out of state to obtain them.
Monday’s scheduling announcement was made as part of the court’s March session calendar.
On March 18, the week before the mifepristone argument, the nation’s top court will hear arguments concerning whether White House requests for social media companies to moderate and remove certain COVID-19 content violated the First Amendment.
The Biden administration argued it was trying to curb misinformation online, particularly about the COVID-19 vaccine. GOP leaders of Missouri and Louisiana, who brought the challenge, contend the contacts amount to an unconstitutional “campaign of censorship” by the government.
Those states were eventually joined by doctors Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, who promoted the idea of “herd immunity” without vaccination in the early days of the pandemic. Jim Hoft, founder of conservative website Gateway Pundit, also joined the suit.
