Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of Abortion Opponents, Restricting Access to Mifepristone

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) failed to address safety concerns when it made the abortion pill mifepristone easier to obtain in 2016. The ruling is a win for abortion opponents, who argued that the FDA’s alterations to the drug’s disbursement regime in 2016 qualified as “reopening” the question of its initial approval.

The panel reversed the most headline-grabbing part of Donald Trump-appointed district court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s decision, which ruled that the FDA’s 20-plus-year approval of mifepristone should be nixed. The panel instead agreed with the conservative petitioners who said the agency overlooked certain safety risks.

The court said that mifepristone should remain available under the rules that were in place from 2000 to 2016, when the FDA loosened regulations around the drug. The drug will remain available under current FDA regulations while the suit is pending, due to a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.

The FDA initially approved mifepristone in 2000, and it has been used safely and effectively by millions of women since then. The drug is used to terminate a pregnancy in the first 10 weeks, and is considered to be a safe and effective option for women seeking to end a pregnancy.

The ruling is a victory for abortion opponents, who have long sought to restrict access to the drug. The court’s decision will likely have a significant impact on the availability of mifepristone, as the FDA will now be required to adhere to the stricter regulations that were in place prior to 2016.