States renew legal push for abortion drug restrictions

A federal judge in Texas on Thursday ruled that Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho could continue a lawsuit seeking to bar the abortion drug mifepristone from being dispensed by mail. The attorneys general argued that their states’ pro-life laws were undermined by the Food and Drug Administration’s policy changes that allowed the drug to be shipped by mail. The states hope to bar the use of the drug after seven weeks of pregnancy and require women to have three in-person doctor’s visits to acquire the drug. Currently, women can obtain the pill through the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and without speaking to a physician.

What is the history of the case? A group of pro-life physicians and doctors in 2022 filed a lawsuit against the FDA arguing the agency rushed approval of mifepristone despite evidence it would endanger women and girls who use it. The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices last summer ruled the group did not have standing to sue the regulatory agency. A federal court in Idaho in July barred seven states from intervening in the case, but Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho in October filed an amended complaint in the Texas federal court where the case originated.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about New Jersey’s plan to stockpile mifepristone.