Friends,
We are giving thanks and praise to God for two massive pro-life victories last week from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
FIFTH CIRCUIT BLOCKS MAILING OF CHEMICAL ABORTION DRUGS
Major Abortion Case Headed to SCOTUS
Mifepristone tablets sit on a table at a Planned Parenthood clinic.
The chemical abortion drug is used to kill babies in more than two-thirds
of the abortions in our country. (Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press)
This past Friday, May 1, a three-judge Fifth Circuit Panel unanimously ordered the temporary halt nationwide of chemical abortion pill access by mail.
State of Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the most significant abortion case since the landmark Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade nearly four years ago. Abortion pill manufacturers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro are also defendants in the lawsuit.
The Fifth Circuit’s Order means that for now the chemical abortion drug mifepristone must be dispensed in person.
The ruling is a momentous win for Life. The illegal mailing of chemical abortion pills into Louisiana and other pro-life states like Texas subverts our strong abortion bans, kills babies and harms women.
The number of abortions in the U.S. is dramatically up in our post-Roe era because of the accessibility of chemical abortion pills.
(See Council for Life News HERE, New York Times HERE & Washington Post HERE)
Background on Louisiana v. FDA
Below is a timeline to place Louisiana v. FDA in context (See also multiple Council for Life News articles HERE):
- 2000: FDA approves mifepristone and institutes Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) that allowed only doctors to prescribe the abortion drug after “three in-person doctor visits.”
- 2016: FDA announced that nurse practitioners and physician assistants could also prescribe mifepristone after only one in-person visit.
- 2021: FDA stopped enforcement of the one-visit requirement at height of COVID, thus allowing mifepristone to be prescribed online via telehealth and dispensed through the mail.
- June 2022: In Dobbs, U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe and returned the regulation of abortion to the states.
- January 2023: FDA formalized the “removal of the in-person dispensing requirement” (2023 REMS). “Shield laws” in pro-abortion states protect abortion doctors mailing the pills to states with abortion bans from prosecution.
- June 2024: SCOTUS preserved broad access to mifepristone in its unanimous ruling that rejected doctors’ standing in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. SCOTUS did not address the merits of whether the FDA violated the law by removing essential, commonsense safeguards relating to the use of mifepristone. Missouri, Kansas and Idaho revived the case later in 2024 to restrict mifepristone.
- September 2025: FDA began comprehensive review of mifepristone safety protocols.
- October 2025: Louisiana filed the lawsuit against the FDA in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division before Judge David C. Joseph seeking a stay of the 2023 REMS arguing it had resulted in numerous illegal abortions and harm to women in Louisiana. Louisiana resident Rosalie Markezich, who was coerced in 2023 by her boyfriend to take abortion drugs, joined Louisiana as a plaintiff.
- December 2025: Texas and Florida filed another lawsuit asking FDA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for mifepristone to be taken off the market completely.
- April 2026: In a Memorandum Ruling, U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Judge Joseph paused the Louisiana lawsuit, granting a six-month hold while FDA completes its ongoing internal safety review of mifepristone.
- April 2026: Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill immediately appealed to the U.S. Fifth Circuit, seeking a stay of the 2023 REMS pending appeal.
- May 1, 2026: Fifth Circuit Panel granted the stay to Louisiana.
The Fifth Circuit Order cited Louisiana’s claims that the availability of the pills through the mail allows access despite the state’s nearly total abortion ban, stating “Louisiana has shown that it is irreparably harmed without a stay” and powerfully noting “the record shows that the policy facilitates nearly 1,000 illegal abortions in Louisiana per month.”
Regardless of how Louisiana v. FDA plays out, mifepristone providers may pivot to a misoprostol-only regimen. Misoprostol is the second pill in the two-step chemical abortion regimen. Misoprostol pills alone can be used to abort a baby but studies show misoprostol can be less effective and more dangerous for women.
Drugmakers Swiftly ask SCOTUS to Restore Abortion Pill Access by Mail
The next day, this past Saturday May 2, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, each quickly filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the High Court to pause the Fifth Circuit’s ruling. The drug manufacturers want SCOTUS to restore mail order access to mifepristone while the case continues to make its way through the courts.
The sale of mifepristone is highly lucrative for Danco and GenBioPro.
Both companies told the High Court that the Fifth Circuit’s Order was “unprecedented.” Danco argues that the Order “injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions” and GenBioPro claims that the Order “has unleashed regulatory chaos.”
The drug companies’ requests will initially be directed to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito who handles Fifth Circuit emergency requests.
The timing of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the emergency applications and whether the FDA will also file an emergency appeal with SCOTUS is unclear.
SCOTUS PROTECTS FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF NEW JERSEY PRC GROUP
Another Unanimous Decision for Life
First Choice Executive Director Aimee Huber
In yet another major victory for Life last Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a collection of five faith-based pregnancy centers serving women and families facing unplanned pregnancies in New Jersey, may challenge in federal court an unconstitutional, coercive subpoena issued by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
Council for Life reported on First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin last December on the morning SCOTUS heard oral arguments in the case. (See Council for Life News HERE)
Two years ago, New Jersey Attorney General Platkin issued a subpoena demanding that First Choice turn over 10 years of documents including statements on abortion pill reversal, donor, volunteer and staff data and other internal confidential information. Attorney General Platkin claimed the investigation was for possible fraud and other unlawful practices perpetrated by First Choice.
First Choice claimed Attorney General Platkin’s burdensome demands violate its rights under the U.S. Constitution and asked SCOTUS to allow it to challenge the subpoena in federal court.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing First Choice allege that Attorney General Platkin selectively targeted First Choice because of its religious and pro-life views and failed to identify a single complaint against the nonprofit.
In its ruling, the High Court asserted that Attorney Platkin’s demand violates the First Amendment by chilling the pregnancy centers’ rights to free speech. SCOTUS reversed a lower court decision that barred First Choice from presenting its constitutional claims in federal court and sent the case back to the lower courts.
ADF Senior Counsel Erin Hawley, who argued the case before the Supreme Court last December reacted.
Since the overturn of Roe, numerous pregnancy resource centers have been the targets of threats and physical attacks by abortion rights extremists and accused of deceptive practices and spreading misinformation by pro-abortion public officials and advocacy groups.
The High Court’s decision in this critical case is an enormous win for Life, impacting every pregnancy resource center in the nation and the women and children they serve.
Please Pray
Please join Council for Life as we pray for mifepristone to be removed from the market or at a minimum for essential FDA REMS to be reinstated for the safety of women.
We thank God for our pro-life judges and pray for them as they work courageously to enforce laws that protect innocent unborn babies and their vulnerable mothers from the violence of abortion.
We thank God for the heroic staff of our life-affirming agencies and pray for their safety as they work tirelessly providing compassionate care to women facing an unplanned pregnancy.
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