Legal Voice and the National Domestic Violence Hotline submitted an amicus brief opposing Louisiana’s effort to restrict access to medication abortion nationwide.
Louisiana’s lawsuit challenges the safety restrictions issued by the FDA in 2023 for the abortion pill mifepristone. The updated requirements allow the pill to be prescribed through telehealth and dispensed through the mail and pharmacies.
Mifepristone is one of two widely used medications for abortion and miscarriage care. More than one hundred studies have concluded that it is safe and effective, and more than 7.5 million Americans have used it since its approval by the FDA in 2000. Additionally, delivering mifepristone through telehealth has become standard practice around the world.
Our brief explains that restricting telehealth access to mifepristone would be especially harmful to survivors of intimate partner violence. For many survivors, it is impossible to access in-person care because their abusive partners closely monitor their movements, control their finances, and limit their access to transportation.
Louisiana’s case had a hearing on Feb. 24, 2026, and the court could issue a ruling at any time. The ruling will only decide whether to temporarily block the FDA’s telehealth requirements for mifepristone. A final decision on whether to permanently overturn those requirements will come later.
