Supreme Court Dismisses Oklahoma Case on Restricting Abortion-Inducing Drugs
The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a case on Monday regarding the usage of abortion-inducing drug RU-486 in Oklahoma, which means that a state ruling that invalidated a previous restriction remains in place.
In its order, the Supreme Court said it is dismissing as "improvidently granted" the Cline v. Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice case, which looked at whether states may limit the use of abortion-inducing drugs and had been referred to the Oklahoma Supreme Court for clarification.
The results of the Supreme Court's decision, according to Reuters, means that the original Oklahoma Court ruling which invalidated the law that restricted abortion-inducing drugs is now final. The December 2012 ruling argued that the drug restriction went against the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision that set the standard for how courts should weigh abortion restrictions.
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The abortion-drug restriction from 2011 sought to prevent doctors from using the drug mifepristone, also known as the "abortion pill," which can be used along with other medications to induce abortions up to seven weeks into a pregnancy. Abortion-rights supporters had argued that the restriction effectively prevented all medication-based abortions.
The official blog of the Supreme Court noted on Monday that in a related case, a group of women's health clinics and doctors in Texas have asked for a temporary block on a state law that forbids doctors from performing abortions at a clinic unless they have professional privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of that site.
"The Fifth Circuit Court on Thursday allowed that requirement to go into effect, resulting in closing a number of abortion clinics across the state," the SCOTUS blog explained in a posting. "The application to set aside that order was filed initially with Justice Antonin Scalia, who is the Circuit Justice for the geographic area that includes Texas. He has the authority to decide the issue himself, or share it with his colleagues."
