Fifth Circuit questions Louisiana’s renewed attempt to block abortion pill mailing

A Fifth Circuit panel heard Louisiana's request to block the FDA's 2023 decision removing the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, then to stay that ruling pending Supreme Court review, a maneuver Judge Higginson called self-defeating given the state's own claims of irreparable harm. Louisiana's solicitor general cited roughly 1,000 abortions a month via mailed mifepristone as evidence of standing, while Judge Richman said she couldn't find record support that the FDA specifically approved mailing the drug into states where abortion is banned.

The case traces back to the FDA's pandemic-era suspension of in-person dispensing, made permanent in 2023, followed by RFK Jr.'s announcement that the FDA would review the policy and Louisiana's lawsuit demanding reinstatement. A district judge already found the FDA's original decision insufficiently supported but declined to block it nationwide while the agency's review continues, favoring what he called completion of a good-faith review over what he termed government by lawsuit.

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