Fifth Circuit fast-tracks Louisiana's case against mail-order abortion drugs as 83 pro-life groups urge a settlement
The legal fight over mail-order chemical abortion is speeding up. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Louisiana's motion to expedite oral argument in Louisiana v. FDA, according to the court filings in the case, and the appeal is now scheduled to be heard Sept. 9 in New Orleans.
The case challenges the FDA's (Food and Drug Administration) 2023 rules that allow chemical abortion drugs to be prescribed by telehealth and shipped through the mail, with no in-person doctor visit. Louisiana, joined by plaintiff Rosalie Markezich, a woman who says abortion drugs obtained by mail were used to pressure her abortion, argues in its briefs that the federal policy undermines the state's pro-life laws by putting mifepristone into Louisiana homes in defiance of state law, and that the state's Medicaid program bears the cost of treating women injured by the drugs. The federal district court found that Louisiana had standing, was likely to succeed on the merits, and was suffering irreparable harm.
The Fifth Circuit itself signaled where it stands in May, when it issued a stay that briefly halted the mail-order regime before the Supreme Court temporarily paused that order at the request of the drug's manufacturers.
Now the pressure is on the Trump administration to finish the job. 83 state and national pro-life groups, led by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche urging the Justice Department to resolve the case through a consent decree that would take abortion drugs out of the mail immediately while the FDA completes the rigorous safety review it has already begun. The letter quotes Markezich directly.
"If mail-order abortion wasn't a thing, I'm 100% sure I would have my child."
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has likewise called on Blanche, President Trump's nominee for attorney general, to settle the case. Blanche's confirmation hearing is set for July 15.
These groups stand on ground Priests for Life has held for decades. Under the leadership of national director Frank Pavone, Priests for Life has warned since the earliest days of mifepristone that chemical abortion abandons women to suffer alone, and its ministries have long served the women the abortion industry leaves behind.
Final Thoughts
Why should pro-life Americans care? Chemical abortion now accounts for the majority of abortions in America, and the mail-order pipeline is its delivery system. A ruling for Louisiana, or a settlement before Sept. 9, could begin shutting that pipeline down. Watch the July 15 confirmation hearing and the Sept. 9 argument.
Related resources: Legislative and legal action on chemical abortion at PriestsForLife.org
