Supreme Court dismisses abortion pill case

The Supreme Court reversed course Monday and declined to review a case involving the abortion-inducing drug RU-486 and the state of Oklahoma.

The dismissal means that a 2011 law curbing the use of the abortion pill remains void in line with a previous decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

{mosads}The law would have prevented doctors from “off-label” use of the drug. The state court struck it down last year, arguing that the prohibition effectively banned the use of abortion-inducing pills altogether.

The Supreme Court had agreed to review the case this summer, but asked the Oklahoma court to clarify its ruling beforehand.

The state court issued a new opinion last week, apparently canceling the high court’s need for its own ruling.

Abortion rights groups praised the dismissal and blasted the original Oklahoma law as an “outright ban on a safe method of ending a pregnancy in its earliest stages.”

“This should send a strong message to politicians in Oklahoma and across the [United States] that women’s constitutional rights are not up for debate and cannot be legislated away,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Both sides of the debate are girding for the next time the Supreme Court takes up an abortion case.

Abortion clinics in Texas urged the high court on Monday to block a statute requiring providers to obtain hospital admitting privileges.

The law is forcing many women’s health centers to suspend their abortion services. Supporters argue the rules protect patients.