Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments about abortion pill

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments concerning the dispute over mifepristone, a medication used in the most common method of abortion in the United States.

The justices will hear oral arguments early next year, with a ruling due by the end of June. That decision could decide whether the drug remains easily available, even by mail.

The Biden administration, along with drugmaker Danco, are defending the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) federal approval of the medication, as well as later decision from the administration that made it easier to access and use the pill.

They are asking the court to reverse an appellate court ruling that would limit access to the drug, even in states where abortion remains legal, and shorten the time frame for when the drug can be used from the current ten weeks to seven.

In an earlier stage of the litigation, the nine justices blocked a judge's ruling that would have completely invalidated the FDA's initial approval of the drug in 2000.

The case now centers on a Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the FDA's post-2016 decisions concerning mifepristone should be put on hold because the moves "were taken without sufficient consideration of the effects those changes would have have on patients."

This is the first abortion related case to come before the court since it voted 6-3 to overturn Roe v. Wade last year.