{"id":218973,"date":"2025-12-17T17:54:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/?post_type=press_release&p=218973"},"modified":"2025-12-17T17:54:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:54:26","slug":"louisiana-lawsuit-seeks-immediate-nationwide-restrictions-on-medication-abortion","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/louisiana-lawsuit-seeks-immediate-nationwide-restrictions-on-medication-abortion","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana Lawsuit Seeks Immediate Nationwide Restrictions on Medication Abortion"},"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-218973","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"Patients could lose telemedicine access to a safe and effective medication for abortion and miscarriage care ","date_and_time":"2025-12-17 17:53:26","featured_image":"","show_on_press_releases_landing_page":true,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"NEW ORLEANS \u2014 Today, the State of Louisiana asked a federal judge to impose sweeping nationwide restrictions on mifepristone, a safe and effective medication used in two-thirds<\/a> of U.S. abortions and as part of a gold-standard regimen for miscarriage<\/a> care. If the court grants Louisiana\u2019s motion, patients will no longer be able to fill their mifepristone prescription by mail or from a pharmacy. Instead, patients all across the country\u2014including in states where abortion care is legally protected\u2014will be required to pick up the pill in person at a hospital, clinic, or medical office, even when they have already received care through telemedicine and there is no medical reason for the travel.\r\n\r\nMifepristone\u2019s excellent safety record has been confirmed by more than a hundred<\/a> peer-reviewed studies and leading medical authorities<\/a> like the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Recent data<\/a> show that, by June 2025, more than 1 in 4 U.S. abortions were provided via telemedicine using mifepristone\u2014including more than 25% of abortions in Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Virginia.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis attack is about one thing only: making it as hard as possible for people everywhere in the country to get an abortion,\u201d said Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney with the ACLU\u2019s Reproductive Freedom Project<\/strong>. \u201cForcing patients to travel hundreds of miles to a health center just to be handed a pill obviously has no safety benefit, which is why every leading medical group opposes this change.\u201d\r\n\r\nAccessing abortion via telemedicine is especially important for people who live on low incomes; who struggle to secure transportation, childcare, or time off work; who live in rural areas; and who are experiencing domestic violence.\r\n\r\nLouisiana v. FDA<\/em> is one of three pending federal lawsuits brought by anti-abortion state politicians trying to end the use of telemedicine for mifepristone. The other two suits\u2014Missouri v. FDA<\/em> and Florida v. FDA<\/em>\u2014seek to impose other nationwide restrictions on mifepristone as well, and Florida<\/em> seeks to ban<\/a> the medication altogether by undoing FDA\u2019s original approval from 25 years ago.\r\n\r\nLouisiana\u2019s new filing comes as the Trump administration appears to be following a separate track to make it even harder for people to access the medication nationwide. Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced<\/a> that the FDA is conducting a new review of its mifepristone regulations, prompted by a self-published report from a Project 2025 sponsor that purposefully distorts the safety record of medication abortion and has been denounced by more than 260 expert researchers<\/a>.\r\n\r\nPolling consistently<\/a> shows that American voters support access to abortion, including medication abortion via mail and telemedicine. At the same time, voters worry that access to abortion remains under threat: a June 2025 poll by Navigator Research<\/a> showed that nearly seven in ten voters believe abortion will be harder to access in the next five years."}}],"drupal_node_id":"","email":"media@aclu.org","phone":"(212) 549-2666","address":{"address_1":"125 Broad Street","address_2":"18th Floor","city":"New York","state":"NY","zip_code":10004,"country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","issues":[46316,46701],"press_releases_related_to_cases":"","spokesperson":[1818],"related_affiliates":"","related_content_documents":"","related_content_publications":""},"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Louisiana Lawsuit Seeks Immediate Nationwide Restrictions on Medication Abortion | American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/louisiana-lawsuit-seeks-immediate-nationwide-restrictions-on-medication-abortion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/louisiana-lawsuit-seeks-immediate-nationwide-restrictions-on-medication-abortion\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/louisiana-lawsuit-seeks-immediate-nationwide-restrictions-on-medication-abortion\",\"name\":\"Louisiana Lawsuit Seeks Immediate Nationwide Restrictions on Medication Abortion | American Civil Liberties Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T22:54:26+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/louisiana-lawsuit-seeks-immediate-nationwide-restrictions-on-medication-abortion\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"description\":\"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. 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