Appeals court limits access to abortion pill, but keeps it on the market.

A federal appeals court has ruled that the abortion pill, mifepristone, can remain on the market but only under strict conditions that prohibit its use beyond seven weeks of pregnancy and bar its distribution by mail. The court temporarily blocked the FDA's decision to expand mifepristone's availability until the 10th week of pregnancy, authorization for retail pharmacies to dispense the drug, eliminating the requirement for in-person office visits to obtain a mifepristone prescription and allowing physicians to prescribe the pills via telemedicine, allowing non-physicians to prescribe or administer the drug, and ending a requirement for prescribers to report "non-fatal adverse events" related to mifepristone. The Biden administration and abortion rights activists have sought to ease access to abortion medication by mail as an alternative to surgical abortion.