The United States' Supreme Court has fixed Tuesday to entertain its first oral argument on abortion medication limits.
This case is coming since conservative justices overturned the constitutional right to an abortion two years ago.
At stake is the ease of access to a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year.
Those who are advocating against abortion rights urges the apex court to ratify a ruling from a conservative federal appeals court that would limit access to mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions.
The high court's return to the abortion thicket occurs in a political and regulatory context transformed by the 2022 abortion decision, which prompted several Republican-led states to ban or severely restrict abortion.
That decision had direct political ramifications, and the conclusion of the second case, which is due in early summer, might influence congressional and presidential contests.
The practical consequences of a ruling for abortion opponents would be dramatic, potentially halting mifepristone delivery via mail and large pharmacy chains, reducing the period in pregnancy when it can be used from 10 to seven weeks, and ending increasingly popular telehealth visits where the drug can be prescribed.
The government and drug makers argue that such a result may damage the FDA's medication clearance process more broadly by allowing judges to question the agency's scientific decisions.
Anti-abortion doctors and medical organisations claim that the FDA's plans to loosen limitations on accessing the medicine in 2016 and 2021 were arbitrary and "endanger women's health across the country."
The administration and Danco Laboratories, which manufactures mifepristone in New York, both claim that the medicine is among the safest ever approved by the FDA.
In one possible conclusion, the justices could avoid discussing the more politically sensitive aspects of the issue while still ensuring access to mifepristone.
The mifepristone case started five months after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade.
Abortion opponents initially won a wide decision over a year ago from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee in Texas, that would have completely revoked the drug's licence.
The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FDA's first approval of mifepristone. However, it would overturn adjustments made by regulators in 2016 and 2021 to reduce some restrictions for giving the medicine.
The Supreme Court stayed the appellate court's amended rule before agreeing to hear the case, however Justices Samuel Alito, who wrote the decision reversing Roe, and Clarence Thomas would have permitted some limits to take effect while the case was being heard.
Mifepristone is one of two medications used in medication abortions, the other being misoprostol. Their numbers have been increasing for years. More than 6 million people have used mifepristone since 2000. Mifepristone is taken initially to widen the cervix and prevent the hormone progesterone, which is required to maintain a pregnancy. Misoprostol is administered 24 to 48 hours later, which causes the uterus to contract and discharge pregnancy tissue.
Healthcare practitioners have stated that if mifepristone is no longer accessible or is difficult to obtain, they will resort to using only misoprostol, which is slightly less successful in terminating pregnancies.