WEDNESDAY, July 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A federal appeals court has ruled that West Virginia can limit access to mifepristone, a medication used to end early pregnancies. The decision is the first of its kind and could affect how other states handle access to drugs that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

West Virginia can block access to the abortion-inducing drug mifepristone, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a landmark decision testing the reach of states’ power to restrict the medication despite its FDA approval.

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,