MEMO: Latest Threat to Medication Abortion: What to Know Ahead of Tomorrow’s Louisiana v. FDA Hearing - Reproductive Freedom for All®

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MEMO: Latest Threat to Medication Abortion: What to Know Ahead of Tomorrow’s Louisiana v. FDA Hearing

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Reproductive Freedom for All
RE: Latest Threat to Medication Abortion: What to Know Ahead of Tomorrow’s Louisiana v. FDA Hearing
DATE: February 23, 2026

MEMO: Latest Threat to Medication Abortion: What to Know Ahead of Tomorrow’s Louisiana v. FDA Hearing

What’s Happening Tuesday

Tomorrow, a federal district court in Louisiana will hold a hearing in Louisiana v. FDA—a case brought by the anti-abortion state attorney general seeking to impose sweeping, nationwide restrictions on mifepristone, a safe and effective medication that has been FDA-approved for more than 25 years and is used in the majority of abortion care in the United States.

Louisiana is asking the court to reinstate medically unnecessary, burdensome restrictions that would effectively end telehealth access to mifepristone nationwide—requiring patients to pick up the medication in person at a clinic, hospital, or medical office, even in states where abortion is legal and constitutionally protected. A ruling in the case could come down any time after the hearing.

In January, the Trump Administration asked the court to pause this lawsuit until after the FDA completes its baseless, politically motivated “review” of mifepristone. But let’s be clear: this is not Trump and his allies doing something to preserve access to mifepristone. They essentially admitted that they already plan to restrict access to medication abortion—they just don’t want to use the courts to do it.

This case is one of several coordinated efforts to decimate access to medication abortion at the federal level, which will harm people in every state, even places where voters and lawmakers have acted to protect it.

Why This Matters

  1. This is about whether politicians can override FDA science nationwide. The question before the court is not medical—it is political. Anti-abortion officials are asking a single federal judge to second-guess the FDA’s expert determination and impose restrictions across all 50 states.
  2. Telehealth access is now a lifeline. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, telehealth has been critical to preserving access to care. In the first half of 2025, more than one in four abortions in the U.S. were provided via telemedicine using mifepristone. Blocking mailing and pharmacy dispensing could immediately disrupt care nationwide.
  3. They lied when they said they would “leave it to the states.” Anti-abortion politicians are trying to ban abortion nationwide through a series of coordinated attacks on shield laws, telemedicine, and medication abortion care—making clear that they never intended to leave abortion access “up to the states.” When abortion is legal, they seek to override state protections.

The Bottom Line

This hearing is about whether anti-abortion politicians can use the courts to impose restrictions on medication abortion nationwide—regardless of what voters in individual states have decided, and regardless of decades of medical evidence.

  • Poll after poll demonstrates that Americans want medication abortion with mifepristone to be legal and accessible. Two-thirds support abortion pills remaining accessible—including 51% of Republicans.
  • 8 in 10 Americans believe that the decision about whether to have an abortion should be left to a patient and their doctor, including 58% of Republicans.

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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.