A federal appeals court ruled late Wednesday that the abortion pill mifepristone could continue to be available, but the judges blocked the shipment of the drug to patients through the mail and reversed other steps the government had taken in recent years to ease access.
The three-judge panel said the ruling would stand until the full case is heard on appeal.
In its order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone could be upheld in 2000 because too much time had passed for the plaintiffs, a consortium of anti-abortion groups and physicians to fight that. decision.
But the court said it was not too late for plaintiffs to challenge a series of steps the FDA had taken from 2016 to lift restrictions and make it easier for more patients to access the pill. .
Those steps include not requiring the pill to be prescribed by doctors alone, approving the pill for use up to 10 weeks into pregnancy instead of seven weeks, and allowing the pill to be shipped to patients rather than requiring that it is collected from a healthcare facility. provider personally.
All those restrictions were temporarily restored. The Justice Department is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Mike Ives reporting contributed.
