The decision could still be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Justice Department said Thursday that it will again go to the Supreme Court over abortion after a lower court ruling allowed to remain available in the U.S. but reimposed past restrictions on getting and using the drug.
Mifepristone is an abortion drug that has been widely used in the U.S. since securing FDA approval in 2000. Abortion rights groups expressed both relief over FDA approval remaining in place and outrage over the appeals court reinstating restrictions. Whole Woman’s Health, an abortion provider that operates six clinics in five states, said in a tweet it was continuing to offer mifepristone in clinics and through virtual services while reviewing the decision.
The two judges who voted to tighten restrictions, Kurt Engelhardt and Andrew Oldham, are both appointees of former President Donald Trump. The third judge, Catharina Haynes, is an appointee of former President George W. Bush. She said she would have put the lower court ruling on hold entirely for now to allow oral arguments in the case.
But the judges suggested FDA changes making mifepristone easier to obtain since 2016 were less consequential than its initial approval of the drug in 2000. It would be “difficult” to argue the changes were “so critical to the public given that the nation operated — and mifepristone was administered to millions of women — without them for 16 years” the judges wrote.
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