Bottles of abortion pills mifepristone, left, and misoprostol, right, are displayed at a clinic in Des Moines, Iowa, Sept. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
A panel of federal judges heard arguments Wednesday over whether prescribing rules should be tightened for a key drug used in the most common abortion method in the United States, one of several ongoing efforts to restrict abortion access four years after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to decide the issue.
The case before the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is one of three making its way through the courts as abortion opponents try to block providers in states where abortion is legal from sending drugs for medication abortions into states where it is not.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also says it’s reviewing the rules and could call for a change — and that the agency process should take precedence over court action.
It comes in a midterm election year in which President Donald Trump’s anti-abortion supporters are frustrated that a legal workaround to abortion bans remains. At the same time, most voters favor legal abortion access in most cases.
