FDA Mail-Order Abortion Policy Sparks Legal Challenge in Louisiana
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized new regulations enabling the distribution of abortion pills that pose significant health risks to women and undermine state authority over abortion laws.
Prior to 2021, only licensed physicians could administer abortion pills due to associated medical complications. Data indicates as many as one in five women experience severe issues after chemical abortions—including hemorrhaging and infection—requiring emergency room visits at a rate four times higher than surgical procedures.
Despite these risks, the Biden administration’s FDA approved mail-order distribution of abortion-inducing drugs. This action followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and permitted states to regulate abortion independently.
In Louisiana—which enacted a near-total abortion ban except to protect maternal life after Dobbs—physicians from New York and California mailed abortion pills to residents, including a minor. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed criminal charges against the doctors and federal lawsuits against Governors Gavin Newsom (California) and Kathy Hochul (New York), seeking their extradition.
Governor Newsom responded on social media: “Louisiana plans to sue me because I won’t extradite a doctor for providing an abortion,” he stated. “@AGLizMurrill: Go fck yourself. California will never help you criminalize healthcare.” Governor Hochul declined assistance without public commentary.
Murrill reported to a New Iberian Kiwanis Club that over 900 abortions occur monthly in Louisiana through illegal mail-order abortion pills. Since then, 21 states, 60 members of Congress, and 58 pro-life organizations have filed amicus curiae briefs supporting Louisiana’s lawsuit against the FDA.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal advocacy group, stated the policy was intended to bypass state laws protecting life. ADF Senior Counsel Erik Baptist added: “The Biden FDA’s authorization of mail-order abortion drugs was a reckless political action that endangers women and undermines state authority.”
