\n<\/p>\n
A federal judge\u00a0declined<\/a> to block the Biden administration\u2019s mail-order abortion scheme\u00a0<\/span>last week \u2014 but he put the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on notice as the agency continues its safety review<\/a> of the abortion drug mifepristone.<\/p>\n U.S. District Judge David Joseph ruled against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who asked the court to halt an FDA rule that allows mifepristone to be dispensed through mail as litigation challenging the rule continues. Joseph issued a 37-page memorandum ruling granting the Trump administration\u2019s request to pause the case as the FDA continues its \u201cgood-faith, evidence-based and expeditious review\u201d of the abortion drug\u2019s safety risks, although he indicated the state has standing to sue and is \u201clikely to succeed\u201d in its challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2026[T]he stay granted to FDA will not remain open-ended,\u201d wrote Judge Joseph, a nominee of President Donald Trump. \u201cFDA has an obligation to act with all deliberate speed to review its past actions and complete a thorough analysis that addresses the deficiencies it has acknowledged. The parties and the American public deserve nothing less. Should the agency fail to complete its review and make any necessary revisions to the REMS within a reasonable timeframe, the Court\u2019s analysis \u2013 and the weight accorded to these factors \u2013 will inevitably change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0FDA Commissioner Is \u2018Committed\u2019 to Conducting a Review of Abortion Pill Safety<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n The State of Louisiana, along with Rosalie Markezich \u2014 a woman who alleges<\/a> her boyfriend was able to order abortion drugs online from California and coerce her into taking the pills \u2014 filed a lawsuit against the FDA in October 2025. The lawsuit argues that the FDA acted unlawfully by loosening safeguards around mifepristone and allowing it to be sent via mail, including violating the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The lawsuit specifically points to the Biden FDA\u2019s 2021 action that\u00a0<\/span>removed<\/a>\u00a0the in-person dispensing requirement for abortion pills and allowed them to be sent via mail \u2014 a rule that the agency made permanent in 2023. That action, combined with\u00a0shield laws<\/a>\u00a0in blue states, have allowed abortionists to\u00a0mail abortion pills<\/a>\u00a0into red states with laws protecting the unborn. The state also points to a shocking 2025 study<\/a> suggesting that serious adverse health events from mifepristone are much higher than previously reported, along with the FDA\u2019s 2016 action requiring prescribers to report\u00a0<\/span>only fatalities but not serious adverse events.<\/p>\n Louisiana argues those FDA actions have undermined its laws restricting abortion and have imposed financial burdens on the state, specifically from Medicaid costs associated with emergency care after medication abortions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n