New Delhi: A United States appeals court has ruled to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone, ordering a ban on telemedicine prescriptions and shipments of the drug by mail, reported news agency Reuters. It also limited its use to up to seven weeks of pregnancy, rather than 10.
However, as per the agency, the decision cannot immediately take effect until the Supreme Court weighs in.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stopped short of ruling that the drug must be pulled off the market altogether, partially upholding a lower court ruling that alarmed abortion advocates and pharmaceutical companies.
However, Mifepristone’s availability remains unchanged for now, following an emergency order from the US Supreme Court in April preserving the status quo during the appeal. The latest decision will not take effect until the Supreme Court reviews it, which could happen in its upcoming term from October to June, reported Reuters.
According to a spokesperson for the US Department of Justice, the Biden administration will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, as per the agency. Notably, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, supports abortion rights and last year ordered the federal health agency to expand access to mifepristone.
The lawsuit was bought by four anti-abortion groups headed by the recently formed Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and four anti-abortion doctors who sued in November.
They claimed that the FDA used an improper process when it approved mifepristone in 2000 and did not adequately consider the drug’s safety when used by minors.
“The 5th Circuit rightly required the FDA to do its job and restore crucial safeguards for women and girls, including ending illegal mail-order abortions,” Erin Hawley of Alliance Defending Freedom, a lawyer for the anti-abortion groups challenging the pill’s approval, said in a statement.
President of the abortion rights group Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Alexis McGill Johnson, said that “the decision makes it clear that mifepristone’s approval is very much still at risk, as is the FDA’s independence.”