Louisiana Proposes Resumption of In-Person Abortion Pill Mandate Temporarily

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A significant update has been presented under a federal lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services. Louisiana officials are pushing to restore the in-person requirement for distributing abortion pills temporarily. The state has raised objections against the 2023 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) rule, a regulation under the Biden-led Food and Drug Administration, which allows remote prescriptions and mailing of mifepristone, an abortion drug.

As per the argument presented, the FDA lacked the right to permanently remove in-person necessity as the federal law explicitly prohibits any drug designed for inducing abortion to be shipped via any common carrier or interactive computer service. Therefore, reinstating in-person dispensing is necessary as the case continues.

Elizabeth Murril, Louisiana Attorney General, has shown her support for the Trump administration as it recognized the original rule’s flaws. She added that the Biden-era rule, which allows unrestricted and unsupervised access to these pills, poses significant risks and thus should be enjoined.

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The lawsuit further delves into how this rule affects women negatively, citing examples of women with Rh-negative blood who could face stillbirths or brain injuries in their future pregnancies without proper treatment. The lawsuit also brings focus to the manipulation, coercion, and pressure many women face due to free access to abortion pills under the sanctioned 2023 REMS guidelines.

A case in point was when a teenage girl in Louisiana was indicted by a grand jury for an unwanted abortion induced by a New York doctor. The girl’s mother had ordered abortion pills against her will. The girl had to be rushed to the hospital due to severe complications, and the mother was soon indicted.

Joining Louisiana as a plaintiff, Rosalie Markezich shares her harrowing experience where her partner coerced her into taking the abortion pills against her will. Such instances further stress the importance of reinstating the in-person dispensing requirement to screen for coercion and abuse.

As per the schedule set by a district court, the plaintiffs’ motion will be on the docket for February 24 in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The original article was featured on The Lion and is reproduced here with their permission.