Louisiana sues FDA, seeking to end mail-order abortion pill

The State of Louisiana has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),  contesting the agency’s Biden-era move to allow abortion pills, particularly mifepristone, to be mailed directly to patients without an in-person visit. The state contends that this process violates state law.

Key Takeaways:

• The State of Louisiana is suing the FDA, seeking to reinstate a requirement for in-person distribution of the abortion pill.

• The state seeks to undo the Biden-Harris administration's 2023 decision to permanently allow the abortion pill to be distributed by mail.

• Mail-order abortion pill distribution has caused pro-life states to be "inundated" by drugs mailed from abortion providers in pro-abortion states that then pass "shield laws" to protect those providers from consequences for their unlawful actions.

The Details:

On October 6, the lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, hoping to reestablish a previous policy mandating the abortion pill to be distributed in person. The state called on the FDA to reinstate restrictions regarding the distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone, lambasting the Biden-Harris FDA’s 2023 permanent removal of the requirement for in-person dispensing “for clearly political reasons.”

The lawsuit asserts, “If this requirement had not been altered, activists from New York and California would not be able to inundate pro-life states, such as Louisiana, with mifepristone through the mail." 

Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana state lawmaker, praised the lawsuit in a statement: 

“Mifepristone has become a murder weapon. The drug is under review because it is unsafe for women — but it is also a tool used by killers — many times against a woman's will or without her knowledge. While a transparent, unbiased review of mifepristone is taking place, abusers could be disarmed if the Trump administration would re-enact and strengthen the FDA safety protocols originally governing the drug.

I applaud my home state of Louisiana for filing this lawsuit to reinstate commonsense safety requirements that the Biden administration so callously and dangerously removed.

The Trump administration should repeal approval of mifepristone altogether, but it should also swiftly adopt a policy that aligns with its declaration that abortion belongs under state jurisdiction.”

Notably, Perkins referred to several documented examples of men who spiked the drinks of pregnant women with abortion-inducing drugs to terminate their pregnncies, also harming the women while doing so. 

The Backstory:

In 2024, Louisiana passed a bill classifying the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as dangerous controlled substances, effectively prohibiting them in the state, an NBC report stated at that time. The law went into effect on October 1, 2024.

At the time of the bill's signing, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry stated on social media that “this bill protects women across Louisiana.” 

NBC reported:

The measure makes Louisiana the only state to categorize mifepristone and misoprostol in this way, adding them to Schedule IV of the state’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law.

The legislation makes possession of the medications without valid prescriptions or orders from medical professionals punishable by up to five years in prison.

Pregnant people who obtain the medications for their own consumption would not be subject to prosecution, according to the legislation.

What's Happening:

Nonetheless, despite the law passed in 2024, the lack of federal action preventing out-of-state abortion providers from mailing the abortion drugs into pro-life states has led to a showdown of sorts. As pro-life states have sought to prosecute out-of-state abortionists, pro-abortion states have passed "shield laws" protecting these abortionists from any retaliatory actions by pro-life states.

On July 14, attorneys general, including Louisiana's, delivered an official letter to Congress urging elected officials to penalize states that “shield” providers who mail abortion-inducing drugs into the state. 

“These laws are blatant attempts to interfere with States’ ability to enforce criminal laws within their borders and disrupt our constitutional structure,”the  letter read, according to Christian Post.

Louisiana also recently issued an arrest warrant for a California doctor for mailing abortion drugs to a woman in the state, in violation of Louisiana law.

 The Bottom Line:

The mailing of abortion pills is already federally illegal due to the existence of the Comstock Act, which, while on the books, has not been properly enforced. Louisiana's lawsuit is a good example of adopting a principled stance for the right of states to protect the lives of women and preborn children.