Court Issues Major Ruling On Biden Abortion Pill Policy

In a major legal victory for the pro-life movement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday ordered a nationwide halt to a Biden-era policy allowing the abortion pill mifepristone to be prescribed online and delivered by mail, ruling that the regulation is likely unlawful and poses ongoing harm while litigation proceeds.The unanimous panel granted Louisiana’s request to block the Food and Drug Administration’s 2023 rules, which removed longstanding in-person requirements for the drug. The court found the state is “strongly likely to succeed on the merits” of its challenge and is suffering irreparable harm from the policy, including violations of its pro-life laws and increased taxpayer-funded medical costs.“The public interest is not served by perpetuating a medical practice whose safety the agency admits was inadequately studied,” the court wrote. “Indeed, the public interest demands the opposite.” The ruling immediately blocks the mail-order distribution framework put in place after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, when the Biden administration expanded access to chemical abortion nationwide. Under the 2023 rules, mifepristone could be prescribed via telehealth and shipped without an in-person doctor visit.Louisiana challenged the policy under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing the