A US federal appeals court has reversed a series of Government decisions that had made abortion-inducing drugs ever more easily available over the last few years.

In its order, a three-judge panel for the Fifth Circuit partly overruled Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, who last week declared that the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone in 2000 was not valid, in essence saying that the drug should be pulled from the market.

But the appellate court did re-apply some restrictions on the drugs which had been lifted over the last few years, such as requiring that the pill be prescribed only by doctors, approving the pill for use only up to 7 weeks into pregnancy instead of ten, and requiring it to be picked up from a medical clinic or pharmacy in person rather than allowing it be mailed to patients.

The court’s ruling is an interim order until the full case is heard on its merits.