Court ruling prohibits a quarter of all abortions in the US

Saturday, 2 May 2026 13:08

A US court has prohibited sending a common drug through the mail, in a move that will dramatically reduce access to abortion across the country.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued a sweeping national ban on mailing prescriptions of mifepristone.

The drug, formerly known as RU486, is the most common method of terminating a pregnancy in the USA, as well as in Australia.

Mifepristone is a medication used in most abortions in the US.

It is taken along with misoprostol as part of a medical termination of a pregnancy.

After the US Supreme Court struck down a constitutional right to an abortion in 2022, seeking a mifepristone prescription across state lines has become common.

Women in states where abortion is illegal would access the pills via a telehealth appointment across state lines.

About a quarter of abortions in the US are made after such a telehealth appointment.

But the ruling by the appeals court would mean pregnant women would need to receive the pills in person.

Abortion is illegal with limited exceptions in much of the US, especially in the southeast of the country.

Protesters demanding abortion rights outside the Indiana statehouse last month.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren described the ruling as being done by "a conservative court packed with Trump-appointed judges".

"This is a page straight out of extremist Republicans' anti-abortion playbook," she said.

"Let me be clear: the abortion pill is safe and effective."

The ruling was made by a three-judge panel, all appointed to the court by Republicans.

Democratic Senator Patty Murray said the judges' decision was "infuriating and infantilising".

"A patient in rural Washington who was going to receive her medication by mail, now has to find a clinic, take time off work, arrange childcare, and travel - sometimes hours - for a pill she could have safely taken at home," Murray said.

"A woman managing a miscarriage will be forced to make that same trip in the middle of one of the worst weeks of her life."

Senator Elizabeth Warren grilled Robert F Kennedy in a committee hearing yesterday.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator James Lankford celebrated the decision.

"The Biden administration endangered the lives of women and girls by removing safeguards for mifepristone," he said.

"Today's Fifth Circuit decision takes a big step to right this wrong. Let's make sure women and girls are protected from this dangerous drug."

Louisiana Attorney-General Liz Murrill described the ruling as a "victory for life".

"The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana babies (and millions in other states) through illegal mail-order abortion pills," she said.

"Today, that nightmare is over."

While the ruling was made in Louisiana, it applies nationwide.

It is likely to be appealed to the US Supreme Court.