US Supreme Court to consider abortion pill case

The US Supreme Court announced it will consider a case that could limit access to a key abortion drug.

It is the most significant reproductive rights case in the US since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

The White House had asked them to block a lower court ruling that restricted access to the drug, mifepristone.

A conservative legal group targeted the pill after several Food and Drug Administration decisions made it easier to access.

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, will hear oral arguments early next year.

The battle over mifepristone is the newest frontier in the abortion debate, which has raged since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in a June 2022 decision.

Roe v Wade was a landmark 1973 ruling that guaranteed women across the country the right to an abortion up until the point of foetal viability, which is about 24 weeks.

Since that case was overturned a little over a year ago, a dozen states now ban or seriously restrict abortion. That has made abortion pills, which can be obtained via mail and taken at home, a focus for both abortion advocates and opponents.

Mifepristone is part of a two-pill regimen that is commonly used to end pregnancies that are still in their early weeks.