Supreme Court Looks Like Next Stop After Appeals Court Blocks Mail Delivery of Abortion Pill

A legal battle over access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court following a federal appeals court ruling that restricts how the medication is distributed nationwide.The appeals court has temporarily reinstated a nationwide requirement that patients obtain the abortion pill mifepristone in person, effectively halting the ability to receive the medication through telehealth appointments and the mail.Friday’s unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturns recent regulations established by the federal Food and Drug Administration. In response to the decision, mifepristone manufacturer Danco Laboratories immediately asked the 5th Circuit to pause its ruling for seven days so the company can appeal directly to the Supreme Court. If the pause is not granted, the company indicated it will file an emergency appeal with the nation’s highest court.The ruling is the most significant judicial intervention into U.S. abortion policy since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark ruling Roe v. Wade in 2022. It stems from a lawsuit filed by the state of Louisiana against the FDA, arguing that the federal government’s decision to allow the mailing of abortion pills undermined state-level abortion bans.Writing the opinion for the panel, which included Circuit Judges Leslie Southwick and Kurt Engelhardt, Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan stated that the current FDA regulations create “an effective way for an out-of-state prescriber to place the drug in the hands of Louisianans in defiance of Louisiana law.”“Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’” the appeals court wrote Friday.During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA dropped previous requirements that mifepristone be dispensed during an in-person medical visit, allowing for telehealth prescriptions. Currently, medication abortions account for roughly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S., with one in four nationally prescribed via telehealth.Evan Masingill, CEO of generic mifepristone manufacturer GenBioPro, released a statement emphasizing the safety record of the drug, which was first approved by the FDA in 2000.Mr. Masingill said the company is “alarmed by this court’s decision to ignore the FDA’s rigorous science and decades of safe use of mifepristone in a case pursued by extremist abortion opponents. … We remain committed to taking any actions necessary to make mifepristone available and accessible to as many people as possible in the country, regardless of anti-abortion special interests trying to undermine patients’ access.”Anti-abortion advocates and conservative lawmakers celebrated the ruling. Louisiana’s attorney general, Liz Murrill, praised the decision in a statement, writing, “I look forward to continuing to defend women and babies as this case continues.”The National Right to Life Committee also praised the decision, stating it “restores a critical layer of oversight” in healthcare. “Women deserve better than an abortion-by-mail system that prioritizes ideology over safety,” Carol Tobias, the group’s president, said in a statement.

Supreme Court Looks Like Next Stop After Appeals Court Blocks Mail Delivery of Abortion Pill

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