Federal Appeals Court Reopens North Carolina Abortion Pill Case After Two-Year Hiatus
Appeals court will resume two-year-old lawsuit over state restrictions on mifepristone after legal hiatus.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will resume proceedings in a North Carolina lawsuit challenging state regulations on mifepristone, an abortion pill that has been under legal scrutiny for nearly two years.
The federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that attorneys can file new motions in the case Bryant v. Moore, which has been on hold since December 2024. The legal battle centers on state restrictions for mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions and miscarriage treatment as part of a two-drug regimen for pregnancies before 10 weeks.
District Court Ruling Sparked Appeals
The case reached the appeals court in June 2024 after U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles struck down portions of North Carolina’s law restricting mifepristone access. Eagles specifically eliminated a requirement that only physicians could prescribe the medication, while leaving other restrictions in place.
Both supporters and opponents of North Carolina’s abortion restrictions argued in 2024 that Eagles made errors in blocking some provisions of Senate Bill 20 concerning mifepristone while allowing others to remain.
Competing Legal Arguments
Republican legislative leaders initially appealed the decision, seeking to restore the district court’s struck-down elements. Attorneys representing former House Speaker U.S. Rep. Tim Moore and state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger argued that preventing the state from establishing its own restrictions could have significant effects on people.
“[The district court’s ruling] puts in jeopardy not only North Carolina’s commonsense safety requirements for abortion drugs but also any state law that imposes a ‘safety-related’ protection on particularly high-risk drugs,” lawyers for Moore and Berger wrote in their 2024 opening brief.
The plaintiff, Hillsborough OB-GYN Amy Bryant, also filed an appeal hoping to eliminate the remaining restrictions. Bryant’s attorneys contended that the barriers still in effect were “expressly considered and rejected” by the FDA.
“The court erred by holding that some of the challenged restrictions are not preempted because they are not ‘directed to the risks of mifepristone’ but instead relate to ‘broader health issues,'” her attorneys wrote in their 2024 brief.
Two-Year Legal Standstill
The case has remained in legal limbo since the appeals court received it, with state mifepristone regulations partially suspended during the prolonged proceedings. The Tuesday ruling marking the case’s resumption comes after a hiatus that began in December 2024.
The renewed court activity means both sides will now have the opportunity to present updated arguments regarding North Carolina’s authority to regulate abortion medications beyond federal guidelines established by the Food and Drug Administration.
