LAFAYETTE, La. – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration must restore the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion drug mifepristone pending appeal. This ruling prevents pro-abortion activists and doctors from mailing streams of high-risk abortion drugs into states that protect the lives of unborn babies.
In the case State of Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom asked the court to temporarily block the unlawful mailing of abortion drugs into pro-life states while the 5th Circuit considers Louisiana’s appeal from the district court’s denial of preliminary relief.
ADF attorneys also represent Rosalie Markezich, a Louisiana woman who, under immense pressure from her then-boyfriend and fearing for her safety, took abortion drugs that he ordered online from a doctor in California. Markezich did not want an abortion, but far from empowering her to make her own choice and preserve her autonomy, the FDA’s removal of the in-person dispensing requirement enabled her boyfriend to coerce her into taking the mail-order drugs—leading to her child’s death.
“The Biden FDA’s unlawful authorization of mail-order abortion drugs was meant to nullify state laws that protect life,” said ADF Of Counsel Erin Hawley, who argued alongside Louisiana at the district court. “This was a reckless political action that destroys unborn life, puts women’s safety in serious jeopardy, and completely subverts state law. ADF applauds the court’s decision to halt this scheme and uphold the protection and dignity of every woman and child while we appeal.”
“The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana babies (and millions in other states) through illegal mail order abortion pills,” Murrill said. “Today, that nightmare is over thanks to the hard work of my office and our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom. I look forward to continuing to defend women and babies as this case continues.”
In 2023, the Biden FDA permanently removed the in-person dispensing requirement from its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for the abortion drug mifepristone. This action intentionally enabled out-of-state pro-abortion activists and doctors to blanket states like Louisiana, which has chosen to protect unborn children, with mail-order abortion drugs, thus nullifying state laws and putting unborn babies and women at serious risk.
“[T]he 2023 REMS sanctions and facilitates conduct with the express purpose of undermining Louisiana’s legal restrictions on abortion,” the 5th Circuit wrote in its order. “The regulation creates an effective way for an out-of-state prescriber to place the drug in the hands of Louisianans in defiance of Louisiana law.” The court further held that Louisiana had established standing, and found the 2023 REMS is a “textbook example of arbitrary and capricious agency action” and rejected the notion that “an agency could forestall judicial review of admittedly unlawful regulations merely by promising to review them in the future.”
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade and “return[ed] the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” allowing the states—through their elected representatives—to enact and enforce laws based on their belief that abortion ends the life of a human being.
Louisiana was one such state. But the Biden administration’s FDA attempted to override the people’s choice—and undermine the court’s ruling in Dobbs—by permanently eliminating the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, thus authorizing mail-order abortions throughout the country.
Every year, pro-abortion doctors mail mifepristone to thousands of Louisiana residents for the express purpose of causing abortions that are blatantly unlawful. The pro-abortion Society of Family Planning’s most recent #WeCount report estimates that nearly 1,000 FDA-approved mail-order abortion drugs enter Louisiana every month. That number should be zero.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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