Appeals court halts mail orders of abortion drug

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The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday night ruled to uphold part of a federal court order protecting women and babies from the abortion drug mifepristone. The order, released by a federal judge in Texas on Friday, would have completely ended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone. The appeals court ruling reinstates the FDA’s approval while maintaining some of the lower court’s restrictions, including the ruling that abortionists are no longer allowed to send chemical abortion drugs through the mail. Several states have stockpiled abortion drugs and federal officials could ask the Supreme Court to intervene.

What other restrictions were kept in place by the new ruling? The New Orleans circuit court upheld part of the Texas judge’s ruling that limits the prescription of mifepristone to the first seven weeks of pregnancy. In 2016, the FDA extended the use of the drug to the 10th week of pregnancy.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report in Vitals on the abortion drug’s two-decade journey to court.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.