Appeals court limits abortion pill access, requires in-person distribution nationwide
In this photo illustration, packages of Mifepristone tablets are displayed at a family planning clinic on April 13, 2023 in Rockville, Maryland. (Photo illustration by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS - A federal appeals court has restricted access to one of the most common means of abortion in the U.S. by blocking mailing of prescriptions of mifepristone.
A panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is requiring that the abortion pill be distributed only in-person at clinics.
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What they're saying:
"Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’" the ruling states.
Texas midwife, man charged with illegal abortions
Two people accused of illegally providing abortions in the Houston area have been arrested, according to the Waller County District Attorney's Office.
The backstory:
Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed enforcement of abortion bans, prescriptions by mail has become a major way that abortions are provided — including to states where bans are in place.
"This is going to affect patients’ access to abortion and miscarriage care in every state in the nation," said Julia Kaye, an ACLU lawyer. "When telemedicine is restricted, rural communities, people with low incomes, people with disabilities, survivors of intimate partner violence and communities of color suffer the most."
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story comes from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling and statements within the decision. This story was reported from Los Angeles.