Anti-Abortion Groups Urge FDA to Accelerate Review of Mifepristone Restrictions

U.S. Food and Drug Administration to accelerate a review of mifepristone, the abortion pill, with the goal of imposing restrictions including limits on telehealth prescriptions. These groups express frustration over the lack of action by the Trump administration to address prescriptions of abortion pills online, which they state undermine state abortion bans.

The administration has indicated that the review process requires time. A federal court ruling on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill against the FDA drew attention to these tensions. U.S. District Judge David Joseph, nominated by President Trump, issued a mixed decision.

He declined to block telehealth prescriptions of mifepristone at this stage but stated that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits and that the state has demonstrated irreparable harm.

The lawsuit, joined by a woman who claims her boyfriend coerced her into taking mifepristone, seeks to roll back FDA rules that have increased access to the pill.

Murrill argues that online availability of mifepristone weakens bans in 13 states that prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions. U.S. not declining since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v.

Wade. State abortion bans include prohibitions on using mifepristone, but some Democratic-controlled states have enacted shield laws to protect providers who prescribe and mail the pills to states with bans. These laws are under challenge in civil and criminal cases.

In the Louisiana ruling, Judge Joseph ordered the FDA to report on the status of its drug review within six months. U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to compel faster action. Anti-abortion advocates have suggested that the administration could restrict mailing of the pills by reinterpreting a 19th-century law and enforcing it.