A US appeals court on Friday temporarily suspended delivery of the drug containing the active ingredient mifepristone by mail. Mifepristone is one of two active substances commonly used in medical abortion in the United States. As AFP reported on Saturday night, the state of Louisiana, which is one of the most stringent anti-abortion laws in the US, filed a lawsuit against the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The decision of the court, in which conservative judges prevail, implies that women requesting an abortion must pick up mifepristone in person at medical facilities, and at the same time prohibits its delivery by mail or personal collection at a pharmacy. In doing so, the appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that allowed the drug to continue to be mailed while the FDA rules on the drug are under review. Proponents of tightening the rules point to a study by a conservative think tank, which, however, did not pass peer review and was not even published in a scientific journal.
The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000. It is the most commonly used method of abortion in the USA, which is also used in the case of abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. The drug is administered together with misoprostol, which causes the uterus to empty. This combination is approved to terminate a pregnancy within 70 days. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill welcomed Friday’s appeals court decision, calling it a “victory for life.” She criticized the previous policy of the administration of US President Joe Biden, which she said allowed the distribution of abortion pills by mail.
The president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Nancy Northup, criticized the decision of the appeals court and expects to challenge it in the US Supreme Court. According to her, it is not a question of science, but an effort to make access to abortion more difficult. Julia Kaye, a lawyer for the non-profit organization American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said that the decision will make it much more difficult to access the drug, which has been used safely by patients for more than 25 years.
After the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion in the US for half a century, introduced bans or restrictions on abortions in approximately 20 US states. Polls show that a majority of Americans support maintaining access to safe abortion. However, conservative groups are pushing for their restriction or complete ban.
The US Supreme Court in 2024 rejected a proposal to limit mifepristone, arguing that the drug’s opponents lacked legal standing to file suit.
