The decision also maintains the Food and Drug Administrations authority to regulate medicines through its approval process.
Mifepristone stops a pregnancy from progressing by blocking the hormone progesterone.
A second drug, called misoprostol, then empties the uterus.
Peter Dazeley / Getty Images
The drug has been available through telehealth and mail order since 2021.
Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of Mifeprex, applauded the courts decision.
Upholding the Safety of Mifepristone
Mifepristone is the first pill taken in the two-drug medication abortion regimen.
It is approved by the FDA for use through 10 weeks of pregnancy.
There have been more than 630 clinical trials, including 420 randomized controlled studies, involving mifepristone.
In February, the medical publisher Sage Publications retracted three studies that found safety issues related to mifepristone use.
By some estimates, it accounts for nearly two-thirds of all abortions.
Shield laws in seven states that support abortion allow providers to mail the pills out of state.
Despite todays ruling, the challenge to mifepristone access may not yet be over.
Those states may attempt to challenge the mifepristone approval through other cases.
you might find a breakdown of state restrictions on medication abortion here.
STAT.The fight over medical abortion has worsened pregnancy care.
KFF.A review of exceptions in state abortion bans: implications for the provision of abortion services.
