WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Supreme Court on Monday temporarily maintained mail access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone.

The court extended for another three days its stay of a lower court order that would have halted nationwide mail delivery of the drug.

A panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a halt this month to mail access for mifepristone, which is used in the majority of abortions in the US.

But that ruling now remains on hold until Thursday.

The 5th Circuit ruling was in response to a lawsuit brought against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the state of Louisiana, which has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country.

Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, which manufacture mifepristone, asked the Supreme Court to pause the appeals court order while they prepare to bring an emergency case to the top court.

The 5th Circuit ruling would require women seeking abortions anywhere in the US to obtain mifepristone in person from health clinics and ban delivery by mail or through a pharmacy after using telemedicine.