5th Circuit to Hear Mifepristone Access Case — SkimNews
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- 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in New Orleans is set to hear oral arguments next week in Louisiana's case that could restrict nationwide distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone.
- Medication abortion has become the most common abortion method since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, with the increase driven largely by telehealth prescriptions.
- Biden administration loosened telehealth regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing a surge of pills to be prescribed via telehealth, in pharmacies, and through the mail — the policy Louisiana now challenges.
- Louisiana, which has nearly completely banned abortion, sued the FDA, arguing its permissive rules undercut the state's near-total abortion ban, violated state sovereignty, and lacked sufficient safety data for ending the in-person dispensing requirement.
- Guttmacher Institute reported roughly 91,000 abortions were provided last year via telehealth mailed into states with abortion bans, including more than 9,300 in Louisiana alone.
- Attorney General Todd Blanche, who pledged during his confirmation hearing to stop mifepristone from being available through the mail, has not yet settled the lawsuit — disappointing conservatives pressuring the administration.
Why it matters: With over 91,000 patients last year receiving abortion medication by mail into states with bans, a ruling restricting FDA telehealth rules would effectively override state-level shield laws and cut off a workaround that has become the dominant channel for medication abortion since Dobbs. The Trump administration faces a forced choice: defend Biden-era FDA policy and anger its base, or drop its defense and hand abortion opponents the nationwide restriction they've pursued for years.
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