Drugmaker files emergency appeal to restore access to mail-order abortion pill mifepristone
by Mary McCue Bell · The Washington TimesA pharmaceutical company that makes the abortion pill mifepristone asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to block Friday’s lower court ruling that prohibited telehealth and mail access to the drug nationwide.
Danco Laboratories, LLC filed an emergency motion with the 5th Circuit seeking a one-week pause on the ruling through Friday to allow time to appeal to the Supreme Court. The company cited “immediate chaos” and “irreparable harm,” noting in its filing that “it is now unclear whether pharmacies nationwide may still dispense mifepristone to women tonight.”
It is seeking an “immediate administrative stay” on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling while the case makes its way through the appeals process.
Danco is not the only manufacturer of mifepristone; GenBioPro manufactures a generic form of mifepristone and is also a defendant in the case.
A three-judge panel unanimously sided with Louisiana on Friday in a case against the Food and Drug Administration, issuing a temporary nationwide injunction that reinstates a 2021 requirement that the abortion pill be prescribed and dispensed in person.
Misoprostol, the second drug in the two-step regimen, is not affected by the ruling but is considered less effective on its own.
The district court judge had previously granted a Trump administration request to pause the case while the FDA conducts its own safety review of mifepristone, and had also denied Louisiana’s request to reinstate in-person requirements in the meantime — Louisiana then appealed that decision to the 5th Circuit, which ruled in the state’s favor.
Mifepristone was approved in 2000, and surveys have found that the majority of U.S. abortions now use pills. The in-person dispensing requirement was eliminated in 2023 when the Biden administration finalized rules ending it, and Louisiana’s lawsuit targeted those specific regulatory changes.
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In 2024, the Supreme Court upheld access to mifepristone in a separate case, unanimously ruling that the anti-abortion doctors who brought that challenge did not have legal standing to sue the FDA. Republican-led states vowed to continue the fight after that ruling, and Danco’s current Supreme Court appeal argues that Louisiana lacks legal standing to bring the lawsuit.
Three Republican-led states — Missouri, Kansas and Idaho — have since taken up the 2024 case to restrict mifepristone, and in another lawsuit, Texas and Florida are asking for mifepristone to be taken off the market entirely.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.