A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld parts of a decision limiting access to a widely used abortion pill, but the ruling will have no immediate or practical impact on the availability of the drug, mifepristone.
In their ruling, a three-judge panel on the conservative-leaning U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Food and Drug Administration failed to take into account safety concerns when they loosened access to mifepristone in 2016.
While the ruling is a victory for abortion opponents, the Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling and the Supreme Court earlier this year issued a stay while the case goes through the appeals process. That temporary pause has allowed the drug to remain widely available.