AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A federal appeals court ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone can still be used for now but restored restrictions on the drug in a decision that the Justice Department said Thursday it would swiftly challenge at the Supreme Court.

At stake in an accelerating legal battle that began in Texas is nationwide access to the most common method of abortion in the U.S., less than a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade prompted more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright.

In a ruling late Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans temporarily narrowed a ruling by a lower court judge in Texas that had completely blocked the Food and Drug Administrations approval of mifepristone. But a divided three-judge panel still reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be taken and said it could not be dispensed by mail.

The ruling preventing the pill from being sent by mail amounts to another significant constraint of abortion access and was cheered by opponents of the drug. The Justice Department said it would ask the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order to put any action on hold.

We are going to continue to fight in the courts, we believe the law is on our side, and we will prevail, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday, speaking from Dublin during a visit by President Joe Biden .

Mifepristone was approved by the FDA more than two decades ago and is used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol.

Abortion rights groups expressed relief that the FDA approval would remain in place for now but criticized the court for reinstating restrictions on the drug. Whole Womans Health, an abortion provider that operates six clinics in five states, said in a tweet it was continuing to offer mifepristone in clinics and through virtual services while reviewing the decision.

In the 2-1 vote, the judges put on hold changes made by the regulator since 2016 that relaxed the rules for prescribing and dispensing mifepristone. Those included extending the period of pregnancy when the drug can be used from seven weeks to 10 and allowing it to be dispensed by mail, without any need to visit a doctors office.

The panels decision came just days after the Justice Department swiftly appealed the far-reaching ruling by a federal judge in Texas that blocked the FDAs approval of the pill in a lawsuit by the drugs opponents. There is virtually no precedent for a lone judge overturning the regulators medical decisions.

The lawsuit challenging the drugs approval was brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which also argued for overturning Roe v. Wade and indicated it was content for now in the mifepristone case. Erin Hawley, an attorney for the group, said it had no plans to seek an appeal that might restore the Texas courts full ruling.

The 5th Circuits decision is a significant victory for the doctors we represent, womens health, and every American who deserves an accountable federal government acting within the bounds of the law, Hawley said.

The two judges who voted to tighten restrictions, Kurt Engelhardt and Andrew Oldham, are both appointees of former President Donald Trump . The third judge, Catharina Haynes, is an appointee of former President George W. Bush. She said she would have put the lower court ruling on hold entirely for now to allow oral arguments in the case.

Adding to the uncertainty, a separate federal judge in Washington last week ordered the FDA not to do anything that might block mifepristones availability in 17 Democrat-led states suing to keep it on the market. The judge in that case has not yet to responded to the Justice Department seeking additional clarity this week.