Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: AUS court has issued an order significantly restricting access to the abortion pill mifepristone by mail. The decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 1 temporarily reinstated a requirement that abortion pills be obtained in person, rather than allowed to be obtained by post or at a pharmacy through telemedicine. The move in particular curbs access to abortion pills — the most common method of terminating pregnancies in the US — in states where abortion is banned.
The decision, stemming from a lawsuit brought by the state of Louisiana, pauses a 2023 regulation from the Food and Drug Administration that allowed doctors to send pills without seeing patients in person. The decision will remain in effect as the case plays out.
Mifepristone is the first of a two-pill regimen recommended by the FDA to end a pregnancy. In 2024, the US Supreme Court unanimously rejected an effort to restrict access to mifepristone.
