A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld West Virginia's near-total ban on abortion, including limits it imposed on access to the medication abortion drug mifepristone. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond,

The court upheld West Virginia’s 2022 law banning mifepristone for abortions in most cases. A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed West Virginia to restrict access to mifepristone, the pill used to end pregnancies that has emerged as a focal point of legal battles over abortion.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, affirmed a ruling by a U.S. district judge in 2023 despite federal regulators’ approval of the abortion pill as a safe and effective medication.