US court limits mail-order access to abortion pill mifepristone

A US court has issued an order significantly restricting access to the abortion pill mifepristone by mail.

The Friday decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily reinstated a requirement that abortion pills be obtained in person, rather than allow it by mail or at a pharmacy through telemedicine.

The move in particular curbs access to medication abortion - the most common method of terminating pregnancies in the US - in states where abortion is banned.

The decision, which stems from a lawsuit brought bythe state of Louisiana, pauses a 2023 regulation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that allowed doctors to send pills without seeing patients in person.

Mifepristone is the first of a two-pill regimen recommended by the FDA to end a pregnancy. It is widely available in states where abortion is legal.

The drugs' availability was expanded in April 2021, when the FDA said it would lift the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, the FDA permanently lifted that requirement, meaning the medication could be sent by mail.

The court's order on Friday overrides a lower court's ruling from earlier this month that pauses the case while the Trump administration conducts an FDA review.

"This decision defies clear science and settled law and advances an anti-abortion agenda that is deeply unpopular with the American people," said Julia Kaye, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a statement.

"For countless people, especially those who live in rural areas, face intimate partner violence, or live with disabilities, losing a telemedicine option will mean losing access to this vital medication altogether," she added.