US EditionUS court blocks mail-order access to abortion drugs, for now
The ruling could curb telehealth abortion access nationwide, and judges said the policy likely leads to nearly 1,000 illegal abortions a month in Louisiana.
- On Friday, May 1, 2026, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay blocking the Food and Drug Administration's 2023 policy permitting mail-order mifepristone, reinstating nationwide in-person dispensing requirements while Louisiana's legal challenge proceeds.
- Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill sued the FDA, arguing the 2023 rule undermined state abortion bans and caused the state $92,000 in Medicaid costs for emergency care from out-of-state mifepristone complications.
- Circuit Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote that the policy "facilitates nearly 1,000 illegal abortions in Louisiana per month," while the panel ruled federal regulations created an end-run around the state's prohibition where medication now accounts for two-thirds of U.S. abortions.
- Julia Kaye, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, warned the ruling will "affect patients' access to abortion and miscarriage care in every state," while Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America celebrated it as a "huge victory" against the "mail-order abortion drug regime."
- Legal experts anticipate a likely appeal to the Supreme Court, while providers prepare contingency plans including efforts to offer alternative misoprostol-only regimens to patients who can no longer access mifepristone via telehealth.
249 Articles
249 Articles
Federal appeals court limits access to abortion pill, sparking new round of backlash
Court Orders Stop To Abortion Pill By Mail, SCOTUS Case Looming
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a new ruling that is certain to send yet another abortion case to the Supreme Court. Thanks to the Dobbs decision of nearly four years ago, abortion law in the United States is a hodgepodge mess of conflicting rulings. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but...
US appeals court approves sweeping abortion pill restrictions, teeing up high court showdown
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rolled back access to the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide — blocking a 2023 U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy allowing the drug to be prescribed by telemedicine and delivered by mail. A panel of three judges ruled unanimously in favor of arguments from Louisiana that the Biden-era regulations on the drug threaten the state’s sovereignty and the safety of pregnant women. Two of the judges we…
US appeals court temporarily stops mail delivery of abortion pill
A US appeals court on Friday temporarily halted mail delivery of mifepristone, the medication used in the majority of abortions in the United States, although a company distributing the drug said it would appeal the ruling in the Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals delivered the order in a lawsuit brought by the southern state of Louisiana, which has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, agai…
leprogres.fr
vosgesmatin.frReferred to by Louisiana, one of the country's most restrictive abortion states, an ultra-conservative federal court of appeal temporarily suspended the postal delivery of mifepristone, a pill used for the majority of voluntary terminations of pregnancy.
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