US appeals court preserves limited access to abortion pill

The abortion pill mifepristone will remain available in the United States for now but with significant restrictions, including a requirement for in-person doctor visits to obtain the drug, a federal appeals court ruled late on Wednesday.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put on hold part of last Friday's order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, that had suspended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the drug while he hears a lawsuit by anti-abortion groups seeking to ban it.

The Biden administration and the maker of brand-name mifepristone, Danco Laboratories, had quickly asked for an emergency stay of that order.

However, the appeals court declined to block portions of Kacsmaryk's order that effectively reinstate restrictions on the pill's distribution that had been lifted since 2016. In addition to a requirement of in-person doctor visits to prescribe and dispense the drug, those restrictions include limiting its use to the first seven weeks of pregnancy, down from the current 10.

Kacsmaryk's order is set to take effect on Friday.