WASHINGTON (NewsNation) —The Supreme Court will face another deadline Friday to decide whether to preserve access to a widely used abortion pill amid a legal battle over its U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

The justices are weighing arguments that allowing restrictions contained in lower-court rulings to take effect would severely disrupt the availability of the drug, mifepristone, which is used in the most common method of abortion in the United States.

The abortion opponents filed suit in November. It quickly reached the Supreme Court after a federal judge issued a ruling on April 7 that would revoke FDA approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions.

Less than a week later, a federal appeals court modified the ruling so that mifepristone would remain available while the case continues, but with limits.

The court said the drug should only be approved through seven weeks of pregnancy for now, even though the FDA since 2016 has endorsed its use through 10 weeks of pregnancy. It also said that the drug can’t be mailed or dispensed as a generic and that patients who seek it need to make three in-person visits with a doctor. Women also might be required to take a higher dosage of the drug than the FDA says is necessary.

It has repeatedly been found to be safe and effective, and has been used by more than five million women in the U.S. since the FDA approved it in 2000.

House Democrats and abortion supporters spoke out against the decision this week, highlighting the decision would have a major impact on access to abortion pills for women living in many states.

“If it’s allowed to stand, this disastrous decision not only threatens to deny millions of women access to the care they need but it also threatens to upend our nation’s entire drug approval process,” said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO).

The generic version of mifepristone makes up two-thirds of the supply in the United States, its manufacturer, Las Vegas-based GenBioPro Inc., wrote in a court filing that underscored the perils of allowing the restrictions to be put into effect.

A group of anti-abortion doctors called for the restrictions to remain in place.

“Plaintiffs have suffered numerous concrete and specific injuries because of FDA’s continual deregulation of chemical abortion, including the forced performance of elective abortions contrary to deeply held beliefs … and the enormous pressure and stress caused by emergency treatment from chemical abortion gone wrong,” doctors said in a court brief filed this week.

The legal fight over abortion comes less than a year after conservative justices reversed Roe v. Wade and allowed more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright.

It also comes as a federal judge in Washington has ordered the FDA to preserve access to mifepristone under the current rules in 17 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia that filed a separate lawsuit.

The judge said the FDA cannot roll back access to abortion pills in these areas despite that appeals court ruling restricting access.

The Biden administration has said the rulings conflict and create an untenable situation for the FDA.

The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit already has ordered an accelerated schedule for hearing the case, with arguments set for May 17.

GenBioPro Inc, filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to ensure that it can continue selling its pill amid ongoing legal challenges. In response to the lawsuit, the FDA has said mifepristone is safe and effective, and that its approvals of GenBioPro’s generic and Danco Laboratories’ earlier brand-name version should stand. 

Mifepristone has been available for use in medication abortions in the United States since the FDA granted approval in 2000. Since then, more than 5 million women have used it, along with another drug, misoprostol, to induce abortions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.