Judge refuses to block sending abortion pill by mail for now, but says
FDA must finish review
[April 08, 2026]
By GEOFF MULVIHILL and KIMBERLEE KRUESI
A federal judge Tuesday refused to block filling prescriptions for the
abortion pill mifepristone by mail across the U.S. — at least for now —
in a setback to Louisiana's effort to stifle groups that send it into
states where abortion is banned.
U.S. District Judge David Joseph, who sits in Lafayette, Louisiana,
ruled against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who asked that
U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules that allow mifepristone to be
dispensed through the mail be paused while a challenge to those 2023
regulations moves through the courts.
He granted the government’s request to put the case on hold for now,
though he warned that the pause would not be indefinite — and that he
could side with Louisiana later.
Murrill said in a statement that she would ask an appeals court to throw
out the federal rules, noting that the judge “concluded that Louisiana
suffers irreparable harm every day” the current rules are in effect.
In his opinion, Joseph, who was nominated to the bench by President
Donald Trump, said that he would follow an FDA study of the drug that is
in the works. He also told the agency to update him on the status of its
investigation within six months.
“Should the agency fail to complete its review and make any necessary
revisions” to the rules “within a reasonable time frame, the Court’s
analysis – and the weight accorded to these factors – will inevitably
change,” he wrote.
He also said that he believes the plaintiffs are “likely to succeed on
the merits.”
Murrill contends that allowing the prescriptions to be filled by mail
undermines the abortion ban in Louisiana, one of 13 states that now bar
it at all stages of pregnancy. Republican state officials elsewhere have
made similar court challenges in other districts.
Groups that advocate for abortion rights also stressed that Tuesday's
ruling isn't a final one.
“From the courts to the Trump administration to state legislatures
across the country, mifepristone and abortion access are very much still
under attack,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and
CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement.
Mifepristone, usually taken in combination with a second drug,
misoprostol, has moved to the center of legal fights over abortion
access since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v.
Wade and allowed states to ban abortion.
In 2024, the nation’s top court refused to block filling prescriptions
for mifepristone by mail. That case was different because it was brought
by anti-abortion doctors, who the court said did not have legal standing
to challenge the rules.
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Mifepristone tablets sit on a table at a Planned Parenthood clinic
in Ames, Iowa, July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
 While conservative states have moved
to ban or restrict abortion, liberal states have moved to protect
access. Eight now have laws that seek to protect providers who
prescribe abortion pills by telehealth and have them mailed into
states with bans.
One study found that by the end of 2024, one-fourth of abortions
were accessed by telehealth — a fivefold increase in two years.
Another study found that in 2025, women in states where abortion is
banned were more likely to obtain one by getting pills through
telehealth than by traveling to other states.
Murrill is pursuing criminal cases against two doctors — one each in
California and New York — accused of sending pills to patients in
Louisiana. Those states have not been willing to have the doctors
extradited to face the charges.
Joining Murrill as a plaintiff is a Louisiana woman who says her
boyfriend coerced her into taking mifepristone from a California
doctor.
Arguments surrounding coercion, particularly when an abusive partner
controls a victim’s reproductive care, became a major theme for the
plaintiffs’ legal case. They say without in-person requirements
surrounding the abortion pill, intimate partner abuse will only
increase. Some anti-domestic abuse advocates pushed back, saying
telehealth can be a valuable lifeline for survivors.
President Donald Trump’s administration last year outraged
anti-abortion groups when it approved an additional generic version
of mifepristone.
A Hawaii judge last year ruled that the FDA violated the law by
imposing restrictions on mifepristone, which is also used for
miscarriage management.
___
Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst, Sara Cline and Mark
Sherman contributed to this report.
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