Abortion proponents vow to defy pause on mail-order abortion

Abortionists plan to defy a recent US Appeals Court ruling that paused mail-order dispensing of the drug, which had been allowed under the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) 2023 expansion of abortion pill access.

Key Takeaways:

• Following the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that mail order distribution of the abortion pill would be paused,at least temporarily, abortion proponents announced their plans to defy the ruling.

• In addition to potentially defying the ruling, abortion proponents have suggested that abortion businesses will move to dangerous misoprostol-only abortions, which leave women at greater risk of complications from incomplete abortions.

• Despite the FDA deciding to allow mail-order dispensing of the abortion pill (mifepristone) during the COVID-19 pandemic, mailing the abortion pill has long been federally prohibited under the Comstock Act.

The Details:

Friday's decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals was clear that "a stay would only pause a method of prescribing mifepristone that began five years ago and was formally approved only three years ago." The decision was quickly kicked up to the US Supreme Court for review by the pill's maker, Danco Laboratories.

While at least one abortion pill website, Abortion on Demand, said "new scheduling is paused" due to the legal developments and listed its next appointments as beginning May 18, other abortion proponents admitted they would defy the ruling.

On her Abortion, Every Day  Substack, abortion activist Jessica Valenti admitted that "some providers" who rely on "shield laws" will defy the Fifth Circuit's decision, while others may switch to a misoprostol-only protocol, writing in part:

The decision is the biggest legal blow to abortion rights since the end of Roe, and conservatives hope it will end the shipping of abortion pills nationwide.

Let me be clear: that is not going to happen. Patients will continue to seek out abortion pills, and providers will continue to ship them. Nothing in this ruling criminalizes patients who use abortion medication, and women can still legally obtain abortion pills by mail—either by using a misoprostol-only regimen or connecting with a provider who will ship both medications.

That’s right: while conservatives want Americans to believe they can no longer get mifepristone by mail, multiple legal experts tell Abortion, Every Day that’s just not the case. Some providers plan to keep shipping mifepristone while the litigation plays out—relying on shield state protections that Democratic governors have put in place...

To put it plainly: We are not going back.

Likewise, Ms. Magazine author Carrie N. Baker listed specific international dealers in abortion drugs for women to contact, and wrote:

Another avenue abortion seekers are using is community networks sharing abortion pills for free in states that ban or restrict access. 

There are now five verified and listed by Plan C and INeedAnA. Four are affiliated with Red State Access: AccessMA, MidWestAccess, IdahoAccess and ARTogether. These four networks now serve approximately 3500 people across 38 states and territories each month. The fifth listed community network is DASH.

... The third way people are obtaining abortion pills is through websites that sell pills without additional support. Plan C conducts research using mystery shoppers to test the reliability of these websites and tests the medications received in a lab to verify the medications.

Baker then wrote a bizarre post on X, alleging that "banning abortion" is equivalent to "banning sex":

"Banning abortion is banning sex. Why are Republicans, evangelicals and Catholics so obsessed with controlling how and when the rest of us have sex? Why can't they just mind their own business?"

Dr. Angel Foster, co-founder of The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, which operates under that state’s shield law, told The New York Times that her organization is consulting legal experts about the ruling’s implications and said the group would “do everything in our power to continue" sending the abortion pill to "all 50 states.”

In addition, INeedanA.com advised its clients that the drug could be accessed by mail. It wrote:

A ruling has been issued to temporarily block Mifepristone from being prescribed by physicians via telehealth. It is still accessible in-person at clinics and via the mail from community networks and international providers. Abortions with miso only are safe and effective.

We are updating the site as the situation evolves and we learn more, but no matter what, you still have abortion options.

Lizzy Hinkley, legal director for the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT), told Valenti, “Shield law providers have been preparing for this moment... we are working to ensure there are no gaps in access.”

"Shield laws" are laws passed by certain pro-abortion states which protect abortionists who break the laws of other states by way of mailing illegal abortion pills to women in those states where it is illegal.

Separately, one Bluesky account suggested that state stockpiles of abortion pills could be mailed:

Pivot to Misoprostol Only?

Despite the drug not being approved as a single-use drug for abortion, abortion industry insiders like Valenti and INeedAnA.com threatened a pivot to a one-drug regimen of misoprostol only, to circumvent the FDA's REMS restrictions on mifepristone. This scheme was hatched long before the drug was approved, as Live Action pointed out in its "State of Chemical Abortion" report:

In his book “The Abortion Pill,” French researcher Etienne-Emile Baulieu, who invented the abortion pill, noted misoprostol’s use in countries where abortion was illegal, claiming he had personally “bought misoprostol in pharmacies to experiment with the drug as an abortifacient.” He wrote, “In the future, the availability and convenience of misoprostol may become crucial if RU-486 is offered under more private conditions than in abortion clinics.

While abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood already promote the unapproved misoprostol-only protocol, others are now threatening to use this method to kill preborn children following the Appeal Court ruling.

Valenti wrote:

Telehealth abortion providers across the country are weighing their next steps right now. Providers aren’t a monolith: some will keep shipping mifepristone, while others switch to miso-only protocols while the case plays out. They’ll be making decisions based on what state they’re in, what their shield law looks like, what kinds of resources they have access to, and what their risk aversion is.

But, Valenti acknowledged that misoprostol-only abortions have problems:

And while it’s important to spread the word that miso-only abortions are available, let’s be real: there’s a reason that the recommended regimen is mifepristone and misoprostol. Miso-only abortions are often longer and less comfortable. A few advocates I spoke to worried that we’d see more ER visits because of miso-only abortions—not because the regimen isn’t safe, but because patients will be in more pain.

It’s added cruelty from the anti-abortion movement.

But... it isn't the "anti-abortion movement" that is vowing to break laws and encourage women to ingest drugs for purposes they were not intended, no matter the cost. And misoprostol is already given as the second drug of the abortion pill regimen; it causes uterine contractions akin to labor, which is what makes it painful.

OB/GYN Dr. Ingrid Skop has explained the dangers of misoprostol-only abortions, including the high rate of incomplete abortion that puts women at risk of life-threatening infections. Still, after the recent ruling, AbortionFinder.org immediately began pushing the unapproved and less effective, one-drug regimen, writing online:

A court decision was just issued that limits the ability to get mifepristone (one of the medications in medication abortion) by mail. It is still available in person. Abortion using only the medication misoprostol is safe, effective, and available by mail.

We will update the site as more info is available.

Mailing abortion drugs is already federally illegal

The Comstock Act is a federal law that prohibits the mailing of “any article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing [that] may, or can be used or applied for producing abortion” through the mail. Yet, when the FDA allowed the mailing of the abortion pill during the COVID-19 pandemic, this law was violated and continues to be ignored.

• 2000: Abortion pill (Mifeprex or mifepristone 200 mg) approved by the FDA for the “termination of pregnancy” in a regimen with a second drug called Misoprostol.

• 2011: Concern about the drug's safety placed mifepristone/mifeprex under the REMS.

• 2016: Safety measures eroded when FDA allowed the drug to be prescribed through ten weeks of pregnancy and removed requirements that the manufacturer report all adverse events.

• 2023: FDA removed the in-person dispensing requirement, allowing for the drug to be dispensed by mail or pharmacy.

These changes occurred despite the fact that the federal Comstock Act prohibits the mailing of abortion inducing drugs.

Why It Matters

Danco is currently under investigation by Senator Josh Hawley, who referred to the secretive company as 'predatory.' Danco was recently fined by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for violating the False Claims Act.

Bad actors in the abortion industry continue to prescribe the drug mifepristone (200mg)/ Mifeprex outside the approved REMS limits, potentially risking client safety.

Under the nose of the pill's makers, Big Abortion schemed to hide complications by advising women at the point of sale to lie about their complications, should they ever need to visit the emergency room.

As such, Danco and GenBioPro (GBP) are not policing prescribers and are failing to decertify those who flout the FDA's safety requirements for the drug.

There is also evidence that the drug makers are aiding and abetting the unlawful mailing of drugs into pro-life states.

Timeline:

Key moments in the Louisiana lawsuit against the FDA over the abortion pill's safety protocols include:

• October 2025: State of Louisiana v. FDA refiled in Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division

• December of 2025: Louisiana filed for preliminary injunctive relief.

• January 2026: Trump's FDA asked the courts to "stay judicial review" until the FDA completes its own review of the drug, which it claimed could be completed in less than a year.

• February 17, 2026: Louisiana responds, accusing the FDA and the drug manufacturers of "try[ing] to scuttle the case on standing grounds."

• February 24, 2026: The case as heard in federal court before U.S. District Judge David Joseph.

• April 7, 2026: A stay was approved until the FDA safety review is completed.

• April 8, 2026: Louisiana 

The Bottom Line:

Despite all the wrangling by Valenti and Big Abortion, Valenti did acknowledge that "if the ruling stands, it will have a massive chilling effect on [abortion]."

Given that Danco and GenBioPro will likely refuse to police and decertify abortion pill prescribers that defy the ruling, perhaps it is time for the DOJ and USPS to fully enforce the federal Comstock Act.

The abortion pill now accounts for 65% or more of all abortions, has already ended the lives of millions of innocent preborn children, harming countless women in the process.