Legal battle over abortion by mail continues Wednesday
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The fight against mail-order abortions continues Wednesday as Louisiana state attorneys argue that they undermine the state's abortion ban.
Why it matters: Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill's office seeks an end to a Biden-era FDA rule that expanded telehealth access to mifepristone, a drug widely used for abortions. If successful, the state case could affect abortion access nationwide.
The big picture: Abortions have been illegal in Louisiana since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
- But they haven't been impossible to get.
- The Biden administration loosened telehealth restrictions during the pandemic, which made it possible to get a prescription to mifepristone without physically visiting a doctor's office.
- That policy became permanent in 2023.
Zoom in: Murrill sued the FDA last October to force a rollback on the policy change.
- "This extra-territorial mailing of abortion drugs is illegal under state law," the lawsuit says, and the Biden administration made the policy change "for avowedly political reasons."
- Rosalie Markezich is named as a plaintiff alongside the state. The lawsuit says her boyfriend forced her to take "abortion drugs" he received by mail from a California doctor.
In related cases, Louisiana lawyers filed arrest warrants to the California doctor who prescribed Markezich's drugs and a doctor in New York.
- Neither state agreed to extradite the medical professionals, AP reported.
The intrigue: The case sits with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously sided with Louisiana on a request to freeze the FDA rule while the case played out.
- The Supreme Court later restored telehealth access to mifepristone during the interim, but didn't immediately take up the underlying case.
- Now, the Fifth Circuit will hear the case, though it's still possible the decision could ultimately end up in the hands of the Supreme Court.
By the numbers: Telehealth accounted for 29% of abortions in the U.S. by December last year, according to the nonprofit Society of Family Planning's #WeCount report.
- Louisiana patients tallied 10,060 telehealth abortions last year, the report says.
What we're watching: President Trump's pick to head the FDA, Heidi Overton, has called mifepristone "teleabortion" and called for the agency to strictly regulate its use "to protect women and children," the Guardian reports.
- Overton has not yet been confirmed for the job.
What's next: Arguments in the case are scheduled at 9am Wednesday.