In its ruling, the the three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a pause on the initial order from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk to block the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone for abortions.
The panel found that too much time had passed since mifepristone was approved by the FDA for its authorization to be challenged.
However, the court ruled that post-2016 actions to make mifepristone more available could be challenged, including its authorization for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and the move to drop in-person dispensing requirements.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has already announced plans to ask the Supreme Court to pause these restrictions. The request will first go to Justice Samuel Alito.
While mifepristone continues to be available, activists were still dismayed by the restrictions put in place by the ruling.
“This decision is a huge loss for both access to abortion and for Americans’ ability to get other critical medications,” Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a press briefing Thursday.
