Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, has filed an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court seeking to halt a lower court decision that would require an in-person examination before the medication can be prescribed. The appeal was lodged on Saturday, hours after the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily reinstated the requirement, blocking telemedicine providers from prescribing the drug by mail in response to a challenge from Louisiana.
In its emergency filing, Danco argued that the circuit court's ruling 'injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions' and would force providers, patients, and pharmacies 'all to guess at what is allowed and what is not'. The company contends that the ruling disrupts a distribution system that has been in place for years and reinstates conditions that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined did not meet mandatory statutory criteria.
Louisiana, which brought the challenge, argues that allowing the drug to be dispensed through the mail ignores the threat of complications such as sepsis and haemorrhaging, and that mail delivery enables women to circumvent abortion bans. The circuit court agreed, stating that the looser rule 'facilitates nearly 1,000 illegal abortions in Louisiana per month'. The pill is currently used in nearly two-thirds of pregnancy terminations in the United States, including in states with abortion restrictions.
The FDA is currently reviewing the safety of mifepristone after nearly two dozen Republican attorneys general requested a review last year. Earlier this year, the Trump administration petitioned a judge to pause Louisiana's challenge until the review is complete, but the circuit appeals court blocked that ruling and reinstated the in-person dispensing requirement while Louisiana appeals the judge's decision. Danco has asked the Supreme Court to immediately pause the lower court's ruling, arguing that Louisiana's lawsuit shares the same problems as a previous challenge brought by anti-abortion doctors.
