U.S. Court of Appeals Rules to Limit Access to the Abortion Pill Mifepristone

On Wednesday, August 16, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the FDA had overstepped its authority allowing the deadly drugs to be sent by mail. Kentucky Right to Life Executive Director, Addia Wuchner affirmed the Court’s finding, stating, “The three judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that in 2016 and 2021, when the FDA loosened safety standards for the drug mifepristone (abortion pills) and then allowed the abortion drugs to be sent through the mail, the FDA likely violated the law.”

We have consistently stated that the FDA elected to ignore science and set aside medical best-practice safety standards, acting under political pressure to put forth guidelines permitting a do-it-yourself, at-home mail order abortion protocol that allowed abortion pills to be sent directly to the homes and dorm rooms of women and girls. The FDA’s rulings expanded a risky do-it-yourself abortion business that has opened the door for illegal trafficking of mifepristone into homes, bedrooms and dorms.

Kentucky has been on the right side of this issue. In 2022, the Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 3, which put forth restrictions on the deadly pill combination. Attorney General Daniel Cameron and his team took on the legal battle, fought and defended HB 3, and won.

We believe women deserve better than healthcare decisions and guidelines put forth under political agendas! Mail-order and do-it-yourself abortions are a risky business that targets vulnerable women and girls.

The FDA decision created not only a mail-order business model, but effectively contributed to creating a new industry of illegal trafficking of abortion pills into our state and around the country. We vigilantly monitor the abortion industry, and it has been alarming to discover what is actually occurring in post-Roe Kentucky while EMW and Planned Parenthood’s abortion facilities are closed for abortions.

We have seen an astounding increase of out-of-state prescribers who are mailing into the state, as well as foreign countries’ marketing and illegally shipping the medications to Kentucky women and girls.

We have found crudely written post-it notes on billboards – “need abortion pills- call this number…”. Just recently we have received reports of “mutipacks” of chemical abortion pills into our state that supply Kentucky girls with dangerous Do-It-Yourself, “3 Abortion-Kill Packs” (which is a kit for up to 3 in-home abortions).

The Appeals Court basically ruled that the FDA’s approval process was inadequate, and that access to the abortion pill mifepristone be restricted, and not prescribed through a telemedicine encounter and delivered through the mail. The drugs are still for sale at this time, as we wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm Wednesday’s Appeals Court ruling and restrictions.

Of course, the Administration, through their spokesperson at the U.S. Department of Justice, stated the Administration will appeal the ruling.