A federal appeals court ruled the abortion pill mifepristone will remain available for now.
The ruling that came down just before midnight Wednesday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans gave a partial victory to drugmakers and the Biden administration in their fight against a Texas judge's ruling that blocks the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of one of the most widely used methods of abortion.
But the ruling came with some restrictions imposed by Texas District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.
Those restrictions, which will take effect April 14, include a ban on mail-order prescriptions of mifepristone and a requirement that women visit their doctor in person to get a prescription.
Last week, Judge Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, blocked the FDA’s approval of mifepristone following a lawsuit by an anti-abortion rights group, claiming the FDA rushed the drug’s approval more than two decades ago and it poses health risks to those who use it.
However, mifepristone has been used with misoprostol by millions of patients since being given FDA approval in 2000, and according to a study from the Guttmacher Institute, medication abortions accounted for over half of all U.S. abortions in 2022.
It’s likely that the Biden administration will appeal the Fifth Circuit's decision, and if so, the case will head to the Supreme Court.
President Joe Biden has yet to release a statement on the ruling, but on Wednesday, the White House proposed new safeguards to protect people seeking abortions.
The new rule by the Department of Health and Human Services strengthens the HIPAA privacy law by prohibiting protected health information, such as abortion procedures or medications, from being disclosed for "criminal, civil or administrative investigation."
