A federal appeals court late on Wednesday blocked part of a ruling issued last week by a Trump-appointed judge that endangers access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
The Justice Department can still ask the Supreme Court to intervene in an attempt to completely block Kacsmaryk's ruling.
The Justice Department has filed a motion in the federal district court in Washington state, asking for clarification on Friday's ruling.
Kacsmaryk's ruling, if allowed to stand, would not mean that access to mifepristone would immediately be cut off nationwide.
The agency has broad power to do so, with the Supreme Court in a 1985 ruling saying that such decisions generally cannot be challenged in court.