A federal appeals court late on Wednesday blocked part of a ruling issued last week by a Trump-appointed judge that endangers access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Justice Department’s emergency request to put on hold the part of the decision issued by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk that suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s original approval of mifepristone, which dates back to 2000.
But the three-judge panel said that a separate part of Kacsmaryk’s decision, which suspends changes the FDA made to the drug’s approved use in 2016, could go into effect. The panel also determined that the agency’s finding in 2021 that mifepristone can be distributed by mail would be paused as well, as Kacsmaryk ordered.
The court’s decision imperils widespread availability of the drug, as it would require patients to make in-person visits to obtain it.
The 2016 changes, among other things, reduced the number of in-person visits that patients are required to make from three to one and allowed the pills to be prescribed to women at up to 10 weeks gestation instead of up to seven weeks. The appeals court said it would expedite its full consideration of the case.
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