Circuit court grants hearing on abortion pill case

Pro-life advocates are celebrating a federal appeals court's decision to expedite a lawsuit seeking to restore in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion drug mifepristone, calling the decision a legal victory. 

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear Louisiana v. FDA on an expedited schedule. The case centers on the FDA's 2023 decision to remove the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion drug mifepristone, according to a June 26 press release from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. The appeal is scheduled to be heard Sept. 9.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in the release that the appeals court’s decision marks a major step forward for pro-life advocates.

"The latest big legal win,” she said, “against the illegal mail-order abortion drug regime is another sign pro-life, pro-woman plaintiffs have a strong case.”

As Zeale News previously reported, chemical abortions now account for the majority of abortions nationwide following the FDA's elimination of the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.

The release also cited testimony from abortion drug coercion survivor Rosalie Markezich, who said her then-boyfriend obtained abortion drugs by mail and coerced her into taking them after she told him she wanted to keep their child.

“If mail-order abortion wasn’t a thing,” she said, “I’m 100% sure I would have my child.” 

The release said that the decision comes days after 83 state and national pro-life organizations, led by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, urged Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to settle the lawsuit while the FDA completes a safety review of the abortion drug mifepristone.