US Fifth Circuit upholds abortion pill's approval, but backs limits

The USA’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected an extraordinary decision blocking the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decades-old approval of the widely used abortion medication mifepristone, but also upheld the decision's reinstatement of restrictions on access to the medication.

Earlier this year, a Texas federal judge ruled that the FDA "stonewalled judicial review" of its abortion pill mifepristone (marketed under the trade name Mifeprex) and agreed to stay the effective date of the drug's approval. This led to a string of  protests from the pharma industry and even US President Joe Biden.

The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that mifepristone and its generic counterpart can stay on the market, with Judge James Ho advocating the drug’s original approval should have been invalidated.