On Friday, the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals issued a ruling in the case of Louisiana v. FDA, which rendered a major blow to the abortion industry. The Fifth Circuit temporarily blocked the 2023 changes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made to its risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) rule, which allowed the abortion pill Mifepristone to be distributed over the counter and by mail, without medical safeguards or supervision.
LA's Attorney General Liz Murrill shares the "victory for Life" on social media:
🚨BREAKING: Victory for Life! U.S. Fifth Circuit blocks Biden abortion regime that facilitated the death of thousands of Louisiana babies through mail-order abortion pills.
— Attorney General Liz Murrill (@AGLizMurrill) May 1, 2026
The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana babies (and millions in other… pic.twitter.com/1ROMOUMXrb
BREAKING: Victory for Life! U.S. Fifth Circuit blocks Biden abortion regime that facilitated the death of thousands of Louisiana babies through mail-order abortion pills.
The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana babies (and millions in other states) through illegal mail-order abortion pills. Today, that nightmare is over, thanks to the hard work of my office and our friends at @ADFLegal. I look forward to continuing to defend women and babies as this case continues.
Read More: Abortion Pill Now Accounts for Most U.S. Abortions. Hawley Wants It Off the Market.
Pro-Life Laws Didn't Kill Amber Thurman, the Abortion Industry Did
Here are the details on the order:
A federal appeals court in New Orleans Friday temporarily blocked a federal rule allowing the abortion drug mifepristone to be dispensed through the mail.
A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Louisiana would likely succeed in its challenge to the federal rule that was adopted under the Biden administration, according to Reuters.
The order also adds to a lower court's ruling that found Louisiana and the abortion drug coercion survivor Rosalie Markezich would likely win the case, but said the lower court erred in denying immediate relief and the Food & Drug Administration can still complete its safety review of mifepristone.
“The public interest is not served by perpetuating a medical practice whose safety the agency admits was inadequately studied," the ruling reads. "Indeed, the public interest demands the opposite.”
The ruling, although temporary, significantly curtails access to the drug nationwide and particularly in states that have banned abortion. A previous rule required the drug to be dispensed in person.
The Biden administration FDA changed the REMS rule in response to the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health decision, which removed the purported right to an abortion as federal protection, placing the question surrounding access to abortion back to the states.
FDA has permanently removed the in-person dispensing requirement and added a new pharmacy certification process, which will enable retail pharmacies that meet certain qualifications to dispense mifepristone directly to patients who have a prescription from a certified prescriber. All other previous mifepristone REMS requirements remain in effect, including the need for prescriber certification and completion of Prescriber and Patient Agreement Forms. How the updated mifepristone REMS will affect clinical practice will vary based on state-specific abortion laws and regulations.
This change in the REMS rule left the door wide open for Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion organizations to set up mail order sites which allowed the abortion pill to be sent into states that had restricted abortion. In 2023, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), on behalf of a group of pro-life obstetricians and groups, filed a lawsuit against the FDA and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the abortion pill, (FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine) to have the REMS change rolled back and restored to the pill being distributed in person through a medical provider. In 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the doctors did not have standing federally to bring the case. However, the tenets and merits for bringing the case were intact; it simply required a different set of plaintiffs.
Enter Louisiana AG Murrill, who led the charge on behalf of her state, to combat the abortion-by-mail scheme. On April 7, a federal court ruled that Louisiana did indeed have standing to challenge the FDA’s policy because it is "causing the state irreparable harm, according to Friday’s ruling," and "was likely unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act." This, along with the addition of abortion drug coercion survivor Rosalie Markezich, moved the needle for the case to be heard before the Fifth Circuit panel.
Don’t miss this critical state sovereignty discussion from today’s 5th Circuit ruling in Louisiana v. FDA. ⬇️
— Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) May 2, 2026
When federal policy is designed to undermine a state’s legal code, that’s not just policy disagreement. That’s sovereign injury.
Every state should take note: if the… pic.twitter.com/S9ibg3rZGH
Don’t miss this critical state sovereignty discussion from today’s 5th Circuit ruling in Louisiana v. FDA. ⬇️
When federal policy is designed to undermine a state’s legal code, that’s not just policy disagreement. That’s sovereign injury.
Every state should take note: if the feds craft a regulation with the express purpose of circumventing your laws, you’re not powerless. You have standing to fight back.
After the May 1 favorable ruling, Murrill said in a statement:
"The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana babies (and millions in other states) through illegal mail-order abortion pills. Today, that nightmare is over, thanks to the hard work of my office and our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom. I look forward to continuing to defend women and babies as this case continues."
ADF President and CEO Kristen Waggoner also commented on the ruling, writing on X:
The human cost of the FDA’s recklessness cannot be overstated. In Louisiana alone, nearly 1,000 abortion drugs are unlawfully shipped into the state every month, despite its pro-life laws. That's nearly 1,000 babies killed each month in just one state. And the FDA’s own black box label warns that roughly 1 in 25 women will visit the ER after taking abortion drugs as directed. Still, it chose to allow the drugs to be sent in the mail to circumvent pro-life state laws after the Dobbs decision.
This left countless women to suffer the trauma of induced labor without medical screening, and enabled abusive men, human traffickers, and other bad actors to order these high-risk drugs online and force or trick women into taking them.
Chemical abortion accounts for roughly 63 percent of abortions nationwide, so, any restriction on the use of the drugs not only limits the tool used by the death merchants to continue the practice of killing babies, but affects the bottom line of the drug manufacturers who profit from Mifepristone's widespread use.
Which is why the aforementioned Danco Laboratories filed an emergency motion on Saturday for the United States Supreme Court to stay the Fifth Circuit ruling.
A pharmaceutical company that manufactures and distributes the abortion pill Mifepristone asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to block a federal appeals court ruling prohibiting doctors from prescribing the medication through telehealth services or dispensing it through the mail.
Delaware-based Danco Laboratories, LLC, filed an emergency motion with the high court seeking an “immediate administrative stay” on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling while the court considers the appeal.
“The panel’s ruling injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions — and it forces Danco, [Food and Drug Administration] FDA, certified Mifeprex providers, patients, and pharmacies all to guess at what is allowed and what is not,” lawyers wrote in the filing.
With a plaintiff that now has standing in the eyes of the courts, and a pharmaceutical manufacturer pushing to have the court's ruling blocked so that its abortion pill can continue to be distributed freely, it appears the same SCOTUS, that might have thought it had wiped its hands of the matter of abortion, is right back in the thick of it.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy RedState's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy RedState's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member