As the Supreme Court considers a case against the approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion, a federal court ruled Aug. 16 that the FDA had stretched too far in allowing the pill to be mail-ordered and for it to be used in the first 10 weeks of gestation.
Medication abortion is a two-pill regimen the FDA approved in 2000 to terminate a pregnancy within the first seven weeks. The agency later cleared the abortion pills for mail orders and extended its use to the first 10 weeks, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Aug. 16 several allowances that broadened access to mifepristone were unlawful.
Danco Laboratories, a manufacturer of abortion pills that joined the lawsuit as a defendant, said the circuit court's panel "disregarded the actual factual record before the court and second-guessed FDA at every turn."
No changes to the drug's access will go into effect until the Supreme Court makes its ruling.
Read more about the history of the litigation here and here.