Case could impose a nationwide ban on mifepristone prescriptions via telemedicine, which 1 in 4 abortion patients use to receive care; Medication abortion – which typically requires mifepristone – accounts for over 60% of WA abortions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined more than 250 Senate and House Democrats in filing an amicus brief to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana v. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding restrictions on mifepristone, a commonly-prescribed, FDA-approved abortion medication.
Louisiana is seeking a ruling that would force the FDA to reinstate a nationwide in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone – a safe and effective abortion medication that has been FDA-approved since 2000. Mifepristone already undergoes a rigorous FDA approval process, which has repeatedly found the medication to be safe and effective.
This medically unnecessary move would end patient access to mifepristone through telemedicine, the method by which more than 1 in 4 abortion patients receive their care in America today. It would also remove patients’ ability to get mifepristone from their local pharmacy, forcing them to find a provider that directly dispenses the medication.
The lawmakers argue that the Fifth Circuit should deny the stay, protecting telehealth and pharmacy access to mifepristone.
“Decades after FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone and years after the in-person dispensing requirement was eliminated, Louisiana now seeks to re-impose this onerous nationwide restriction on all Americans,” the members wrote. “Many Americans in states where abortion is legal live far from any reproductive health care provider. Reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone exacerbates an already significant reproductive health crisis by limiting access to the most common method of early abortion.”
Louisiana’s request for a stay of FDA’s 2023 rule would result in the reinstatement of the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone nationwide. If the court overturns the FDA’s decision, it would threaten the congressionally mandated, evidence-based process for drug regulation and limit who can receive this life-saving medication.
“For more than a quarter century, FDA has repeatedly and consistently affirmed that mifepristone is safe. Over seven million patients in the U.S. have safely used mifepristone. And as with other drugs, FDA continues to monitor the post-marketing safety data on mifepristone—data confirming that mifepristone is safe without regard to how it is dispensed,” the lawmakers continued.
The case returned to the Fifth Circuit following the Supreme Court’s stay of the Fifth Circuit’s nationwide ban on telehealth access to mifepristone in May 2026.
In the Senate, the amicus brief was signed by all 47 Democratic U.S. Senators. In the House, the brief was signed by 212 Democratic U.S. Representatives.
The amicus brief can be read in full HERE.
Sen. Cantwell has consistently advocated for reproductive freedom. In March 2026, Sen. Cantwell co-published a report highlighting higher costs and new barriers to reproductive healthcare resulting from President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ work to “defund” Planned Parenthood.
On the third anniversary of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, Sen. Cantwell issued a fact sheet warning of dire consequences for reproductive healthcare in Washington state due to Republicans’ reconciliation bill, including their “defund” Planned Parenthood provision.
In January 2024, Sen. Cantwell filed another amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to maintain access to mifepristone. Together with 263 members of Congress, Sen. Cantwell called on the Court to reverse a lower court’s ruling that would have restricted mifepristone access and undermined the FDA’s science-based approvals process.
In June 2024, Sen. Cantwell spoke out on the Senate floor about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision casting doubt the FDA’s longstanding approval of mifepristone. In her remarks, Sen. Cantwell noted that over 60% of abortions provided in the state of Washington are medication abortions.
In December 2023, Sen. Cantwell joined a resolution expressing support for mifepristone and calling for the FDA’s approval of the drug to be respected. The resolution followed the Supreme Court’s announcement it would review a lower court ruling that restricted access to mifepristone nationwide.