A federal appeals court has restricted access to mifepristone, one of the most common means of abortion in the U.S., by blocking the mailing of prescriptions. A panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is now requiring that the abortion pill be distributed only in person at clinics, effectively blocking prescriptions through telehealth appointments.
The conservative court granted the state of Louisiana's request to reinstate a nationwide requirement for in-person dispensing. Louisiana is a southern state with some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country. This ruling temporarily blocks a federal rule that had allowed the drug to be dispensed through the mail.
The decision significantly curtails access to the drug nationwide, particularly in states that have banned abortion. Since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed the enforcement of abortion bans, prescriptions by mail have become a major way that abortions are provided, including to states where bans are in place.