The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday blocks an Arizona law proposing to limit the use of abortion pills by declining to review it in its preliminary stage.
The announcement was made in a written order without giving further explanation of its decision.
"Arizona has presented no evidence whatsoever that the law furthers any interest in women's health. For a significant number of women, the law will ban medication abortions outright because many women do not discover they are pregnant," wrote Judge William A. Fletcher, representing the court, quoted by The New York Times.
The "off-label" law was approved by the U.S. Appeals Court in April that aims to allow women to use abortion pills between the seventh and ninth month of pregnancy. The current law permitted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lets women take it only up to their seventh month. The legislators believe that increasing the limit would lower the medical risk of women who don't want invasive surgical procedures and are looking for cheaper options, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The legal issue in this abortion case is whether the state law requires an "undue burden" on women wanting to do the abortion prior to fetal viability.
While the news would definitely disappoint the supporters of the law, opposing parties such as the Planned Parenthood consider this a victory.
"The court did the right thing today, but this dangerous and misguided law should never have passed in the first place," Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement after the court's action. "Politicians across the country should take note: These harmful and unconstitutional restrictions won't be tolerated by the courts or the public."
Arizona is not the only state proposing new limits to abortion pills. A similar law is in place for Texas and Ohio and is being enforced strictly.
