The US Food and Drug Administration filed a supplemental brief on Tuesday requesting that the Supreme Court lift a preliminary injunction “barring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from enforcing longstanding safety requirements with respect to medication abortions effected through the use of Mifeprex (or its generic equivalent).

This pill is approved for use to manage miscarriages or end early pregnancy.

Both a district court and court of appeals have already denied the motions to lift the injunction even while the issue is on appeal. The government is arguing that the requirement for those seeking abortions to go in person to a prescriber to pick up the abortion pill, even during the pandemic, “does not create a substantial burden on abortion access.” It primarily points to statistics of rates of abortions before and during the stay and discounts testimonies from women discussing what a relief it was to have this access as not demonstrating that women were entirely unable to secure the pill without the access.

The opposing party to this suit is led by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It argued on September 8 that this requirement needlessly exposes those seeking early abortion care, as well as those providing that care, to a “life-threatening disease by mandating that patients travel to a health center for the sole purpose of picking up a pill and signing a form.”

The plaintiffs in this case represent “more than 60,000 physicians and the department chairs of obstetrics and gynecology at nearly 150 universities across the United States.” They argued that the FDA does not require a physical examination or any form of testing for those seeking this care and that the FDA has acknowledged that the risks associated with the medication are “generally far below 0.1% for any individual adverse event.”

The block on enforcing aspects of the requirement to go in person began on July 13 when it was granted by the US District Court for the District of Maryland. This is the second request to reinstate the requirement that women pick up the pill in person. In October, the Supreme Court allowed the continued access to treatment by mail without giving a substantive ruling.

Other drugs that traditionally require in-person visits, such as opioids in some cases, have also been suspended, but the FDA is only challenging the enjoinment of enforcement for securing the abortion pill.