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The legal battle over mifepristone, one of two medications used to provide abortions and treat miscarriages, continued Wednesday when a federal appeals court heard arguments about access to the drug.
The lawsuit over mifepristone dates to November 2022, when a group of abortion rights opponents filed a complaint alleging that the Food and Drug Administration had acted improperly when it approved mifepristone in 2000 and later expanded access to the drug by loosening regulations and allowing it to be dispensed via telehealth. Mifepristone is now used in more than half of abortions nationwide.
Over the course of two weeks in April, the immediate future of access to mifepristone was thrown in sudden jeopardy when U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary injunction undoing the drug’s FDA approval. Ultimately, the Supreme Court issued an emergency stay, allowing mifepristone to remain widely available.
Now, even as the stay remains in place, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is once again considering Kacsmaryk’s injunction.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel in New Orleans questioned lawyers representing the federal government, mifepristone’s manufacturer and the plaintiffs who oppose abortion. All three judges were appointed by Republicans: Circuit Judges James Ho and Cory Wilson were tapped by Donald Trump, while Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod was appointed by George W. Bush.
Opponents of mifepristone have argued that the agency ignored safety risks with mifepristone when it approved the drug and later removed important safeguards, like reducing the number of doctor’s appointments needed to receive a prescription.
The federal government counters that mifepristone has a long track record of safety, and that the FDA acted appropriately and within its Congressional authority.
Much of Wednesday’s hearing centered on whether the coalition of abortion opponents had standing to file their lawsuit.
Lawyers representing the federal government and Danco Laboratories, the pharmaceutical company whose only product is Mifeprex, the name-brand version of mifepristone, argued that the group who brought the lawsuit lacked standing to do so.
