Fort Worth, Texas - A federal judge on Monday paused a Texas and Louisiana lawsuit which sought to severely limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone. The case is now on hold until the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) completes a safety review.

US District Judge Reed O’Connor, in Fort Worth, Texas, ruled in favor of the Department of Justice's request to delay the lawsuit filed by Texas and Florida until the FDA finishes its safety review of mifepristone.

Additionally, Judge O'Connor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, denied a request by the makers of Mifepristone, GenBioPro and Danco Laboratories, to dismiss the case.

This suit was filed last December by the attorneys general of Texas and Florida and seeks to roll back both the FDA's 2000 initial approval of mifepristone and a 2023 rule, which expanded access to the drug by mail.

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Florida and Texas' lawsuit is one of three pending federal cases that would change nationwide access to mifepristone.

Mifepristone is one of two drugs in a drug regimen used in medicated abortion care. It's also routinely used in managing early miscarriages.

Mifepristone has come under new scrutiny due to an increase in medicated abortions following increasing abortion bans throughout the US.

Some 20 states have banned or restricted abortion since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the ruling that enshrined the constitutional right to abortion for half a century.

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In May, the Supreme Court temporarily maintained mail access to mifepristone.

In response to O'Connor's decision, GenBioPro CEO Evan Masingill stated, as reported by Reuters: "We expect the FDA's review of mifepristone to not contradict the decision they made in 2023 that reaffirmed our product is safe and effective."

"GenBioPro will continue to use all legal and regulatory tools available to ensure Americans' access to reproductive care."

Judge O'Connor's decision puts this lawsuit on hold until either December 1, or when the FDA finishes its review of mifepristone, whichever occurs first.