A New Orleans federal appeals court restricted access to mail-order prescriptions of the abortion-inducing drug mifepristone.
The panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, personal delivery will be required of mifipristone in the clinic.
The decision found that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation that allows prescription of a progesterone blocking drug without a physician’s appointment “undermines” the state of Louisiana. In Louisiana, the state considers unborn children to be human and legal persons from the moment of conception.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, medication abortion, which relies on mifepristone and misoprostol, was to account for 63% of US abortions in 2023. According to the organization, which was affiliated with Planned Parenthood until 2007, the actual number of abortions may be higher due to under-reporting.
Activists, lawmakers and state attorneys general are calling on the FDA to conduct a safety review of the drug, citing serious risks to women’s health.
A recent study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) found that removing in-person visitation requirements increased adverse effects on women who have had medication-induced abortions. This study is one of several pointing to higher rates of serious problems.
many other studies have shown high rates of hospitalization Women are taking abortion pills. According to one, “The complication rate of chemical abortion is four times higher than that of surgical abortion.” Study. Another report found that medication abortion complications are often underreported or misclassified.
