The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Thursday that it will permanently allow patients to receive abortion pills by mail, expanding access to abortion as the Supreme Court wrestles with the future of Roe v. Wade.

The new rule could help some women circumvent restrictions on abortion in states like Texas, where patients must pick up the medication in person and can’t acquire it through telehealth appointments.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the FDA temporarily eased restrictions on mifepristone — which, taken with another medication called misoprostol, ends early pregnancies — so patients could temporarily order the pills by mail.

The Biden administration said in May that it would review requirements for mifepristone. Last year, a group of doctors and advocates, led by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, challenged the previous FDA restrictions on receiving abortion pills by mail.

source nbcnews.com