Federal appeals court hears arguments on mifepristone prescribing rules as medication abortion use grows
A panel of three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday on whether prescribing rules for mifepristone — a drug used in the most common U.S. abortion method — should be tightened. The case was brought by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and a plaintiff who says she was coerced into taking abortion pills. At least three in five U.S. abortions are now obtained using a two-drug combination that includes mifepristone.
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The 5th Circuit hearing is one of three active federal court cases in which state attorneys general are challenging FDA rules that allow mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth and dispensed by mail into states where abortion is banned. Attorneys general from Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri are involved across the various suits. Two district courts in Hawaii and Virginia have separately found the current FDA rules too restrictive in the opposite direction.
The Supreme Court unanimously rejected a prior effort to curtail mifepristone availability in 2024, ruling that the anti-abortion groups who brought that challenge lacked legal standing. Mifepristone manufacturers have raised the same standing argument against the state plaintiffs in the current cases. The Supreme Court has also blocked any changes to prescribing rules pending its review, meaning a new 5th Circuit ruling would not immediately alter the status quo.
A survey conducted for the Society of Family Planning, which supports legal abortion access, estimated that between 770 and 900 women in Louisiana obtained abortions each month in 2025 through pills prescribed online or by providers in other states. Thirteen states currently ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy; four others restrict it after roughly six weeks.