JUST IN: Supreme Court Unanimously Rules to Preserve Access to Abortion Pill

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, in a 9-0 decision, to preserve access to mifepristone — the abortion pill at the center of a heated legal and culture war battle.

The decision overturned a federal appeals court ruling that would have banned mifepristone from being sent in the mail, even in states without abortion restrictions. Mifepristone is currently used in more than half of the abortions in the U.S., according to Bloomberg.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the decision, which did not deal specifically with the merits of the case, but hinged instead on the court deciding that the anti-abortion groups did not have “standing” to sue the FDA in the first place.

“But citizens and doctors do not have standing to sue simply because others are allowed to engage in certain activities – at least without the plaintiffs demonstrating how they would be injured by the government’s alleged under-regulation of others,” wrote Kavanaugh arguing that the initial suit did not sufficiently establish how the FDA’s approval of mifepristone was causing harm to the anti-abortion activists.

Kavanaugh added, “We recognize that many citizens, including the plaintiff doctors here, have sincere concerns about and objections to others using mifepristone and obtaining abortions .”

CNN detailed how mifepristone works, “After taking mifepristone, the patient waits 24 to 48 hours to take misoprostol. That helps empty the uterus through bleeding and muscle contractions. The drugs typically cause intense cramps and heavy bleeding for about three to five hours. A regular menstrual period will usually resume in a couple of weeks.” The explainer added:

The drugs can be taken immediately after someone learns that they’re pregnant, up to 10 weeks after the first day of the last menstrual period. The FDA approved mifepristone, coupled with misoprostol, for abortion in 2000.

This is a developing story and has been updated.