Arizona Abortion Restrictions to Remain Blocked

A federal appeals court has decided to continue blocking the nation's strictest restrictions on the use of abortion drugs.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Tuesday to keep in place the injunction against Arizona's new rules while a lawsuit is pending. The panel says the rules appear to cause an "undue burden" on women's right to abortions.

The regulations ban women from taking the most common abortion-inducing drug — RU-486 — after the seventh week of pregnancy instead of the ninth. They also require that the drug be administered only at the FDA-approved dosage and that both doses be taken at a clinic.

Planned Parenthood Arizona has sued to stop the rules.

The panel granted the stay one day after the rules took effect in April. A federal judge in Tucson had declined to block them temporarily.