You Can Still Get Your Mail Order Abortion Pills (For Now)
SCOTUS has temporarily blocked the Fifth Circuit's temporary block of the FDA's policy on abortion medication prescription rules.
On Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Right-Wing Nonsense banned the mailing of mifepristone, temporarily blocking a 2023 FDA policy that ended the requirement that the medication be prescribed and distributed in-person — even in states where abortion is legal. Misoprostol, a drug usually used in conjunction with Mifepristone, would still be allowed to be distributed in that way, and can induce an abortion on its own, but is not as safe or effective as the combination.
Luckily, after two companies that manufacture the pill challenged the ruling on Saturday, the Supreme Court has blocked it, temporarily allowing women to obtain the pill through pharmacies and the mail. Unfortunately, that order will only last until 5 p.m. on May 11, to allow them more time to consider the issue. It’s not great, but it’s something. For now.
At issue is the state of Louisiana’s belief that the FDA’s policy undermines its abortion ban and crushes its dreams of forcing women to have babies they don’t want, because women in their state have been able to obtain the pills through telehealth providers instead of just being shit out of luck. As damaging and dangerous as the overturning of Roe v. Wade has been, its impact has been heavily mitigated by the ability of women in abortion ban states to get mifepristone through the mail.
This will not be the first time the issue has been before the highest court in the land. In 2023, Texas judge (and religious right darling) Matthew Kacsmaryk tried to outlaw medication abortion, only to have his dreams dashed by SCOTUS, which found that the anti-abortion doctors and activists suing simply did not have standing to challenge the FDA’s policy. In its ruling, the Fifth Circuit found that Louisiana did have standing to sue on the grounds that its state Medicaid program covers emergency care for complications from the pill.
Of course, state Medicaid programs are required to cover all kinds of things that may be legal in one state but not in another, and it’s worth pointing out that mifepristone itself is not illegal in any state, but rather the use of it to induce an abortion. It is also used for several other purposes, including treating miscarriages, fibroids, during cancer biopsies, certain symptoms of Cushing’s Syndrome, endometriosis and more.
Mifepristone has been used safely for 25 years in the US, and since 1988 in France. It is several times safer than Viagra, which absolutely no one argues should only be prescribed in person and not distributed through the mail. There is no compelling health-related reason to require an in-person visit for mifepristone, whatsoever. The only reason, really, is means reduction — making it harder to get an abortion means women will have fewer of them, not just in abortion ban states but in all states. Not only is it just more convenient, but telehealth costs a lot less than traditional in-person visits.
The fact that it is legal to get this medication off the internet is why there has not been a substantial downturn in the actual number of abortions. In fact, data shows that more people are having abortions than they were before Roe was overturned, possibly due in part to the fact that they are a whole lot less excited to bring kids into a world in which women’s rights are being eroded.
Judges are not scientists. They are not doctors, and even if a judge did have a medical license because they were some kind of child prodigy who attended both law school and medical school, they would still not have any business regulating medications or how they are dispensed. Because that is not the job of a judge. That is not what they were appointed to do.
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Similarly, it is the FDA’s job to create policies based on safety and efficacy, not on state laws or the personal moral stances and beliefs, supernatural and otherwise, of US conservatives, a fact that appears to confuse them in many ways, and not just as it relates to abortion medication. While they’re out here trying to claim that perfectly safe medications and treatments that have been in use for decades, but which they are morally opposed to — like mifepristone, birth control and many vaccines — are somehow unsafe, they’re also pushing for the FDA to deregulate things that actually are unsafe, like raw milk, or insufficiently tested, like the compounded peptides their right-wing podcast personalities like to use to get buff, or off-label uses of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
It’s hard to know what the Supreme Court will do here, since the majority are anti-abortion hardliners and cannot be trusted to rule fairly and objectively as far as that issue is concerned.
That being said, if they do decide in favor of Louisiana, it may very well be the beginning of the end of that majority, at least eventually. Republicans are already at a major disadvantage in the midterms, and such a ruling will certainly not help them very much. Voters across the United States have made it pretty damned clear that they don’t actually want abortion to be illegal and inaccessible. This is why lawmakers in Louisiana have worked so hard to prevent any statewide votes on the issue. Because despite the state’s conservative leanings, a slight majority — 53 percent — supports an amendment to the state’s constitution enshrining the right to abortion.
According to reports, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are not planning to retire this year, but both are nearing that age. If Republicans lose the midterms, Donald Trump will not be able to nominate another conservative justice, and if Democrats win in 2028, they’d have to hold on to their seats for six more years from now — at least — in order to keep the ratio up.
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
From Jessica Valenti's Abortion Every Day, written before the 5th Circuit's ruling was stayed:
The Biggest Attack on Abortion Since the End of Roe
A federal court wants to end mifepristone by mail—it's not happening
"conservatives hope it will end the shipping of abortion pills nationwide.
Let me be clear: that is not going to happen. Patients will continue to seek out abortion pills, and providers will continue to ship them. Nothing in this ruling criminalizes patients who use abortion medication, and women can still legally obtain abortion pills by mail—either by using a misoprostol-only regimen or connecting with a provider who will ship both medications.
That’s right: while conservatives want Americans to believe they can no longer get mifepristone by mail, multiple legal experts tell Abortion, Every Day that’s just not the case. Some providers plan to keep shipping mifepristone while the litigation plays out—relying on shield state protections that Democratic governors have put in place.
“We anticipated this moment and have worked hard with our allies at the state level to create the legal landscape and legislation to empower states to protect access to abortion nationwide,” says Julie F. Kay, founder Reproductive Futures.
To put it plainly: We are not going back."
tl;dr: bring it, MAGA bitches!
https://jessica.substack.com/p/the-biggest-attack-on-abortion-since
So, according to MAGA, hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein, wanting to go to wild parties on his island, etc., like the proven rapist Trump and Elon isn't worth a criminal investigation.
But getting a perfectly safe pill through the mail must be prosecuted at the same level as a person who threw a sandwich at a fully combat armored goon going after the local house cleaner.
Some people's priorities are really silly.