A federal judge paused Louisiana’s lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its approval of mifepristone on April 7, pending the agency’s promised safety review.
The decision means that legal challenges to how mifepristone is dispensed will not proceed until the FDA completes a review of its current Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies for the drug. The issue matters because it affects how abortion pills can be accessed, particularly by mail, and has drawn attention from both supporters and opponents of abortion rights.
U.S. District Judge David Joseph wrote that allowing the FDA to finish its “good faith, evidence-based, and expeditious review” was in the public interest rather than relying on ongoing lawsuits. The case originated when Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, along with Rosalie Markezich—who said she was coerced into taking abortifacient drugs—sued over a policy permitting mifepristone to be distributed by mail without direct consultation with a doctor.
The Department of Justice under former President Trump had previously asked courts to pause similar lawsuits while regulatory reviews were underway. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services stated that “the FDA is conducting its safety study of mifepristone,” aiming for robust data collection and analysis. They added that such studies usually take about a year or more but plan “to have this study done sooner than that timeframe.” However, Judge Joseph emphasized that his stay would not be open-ended: “FDA has an obligation to act with all deliberate speed… The parties and the American public deserve nothing less.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in an April 8 statement that the ruling vindicated Louisiana’s right to challenge federal policy: “This ruling comes after the DOJ has repeatedly tried to get states’ challenges… dismissed… It is urgent that the FDA complete its promised safety study on these drugs.” She also argued against mailing abortion pills without medical oversight.
Debate continues between those who say mifepristone is statistically safe for women when taken as directed versus opponents who warn about risks outside medical settings. The Catholic Church opposes direct abortion based on its teaching about human life’s sanctity from conception onward; Church leaders have also called for increased support for mothers following recent Supreme Court decisions affecting abortion laws.
