Mifepristone is a synthetic steroid used to block the hormone progesterone, which sustains a pregnancy. It is typically ingested in a pill or tablet form to abort a fetus up to approximately 70 days of gestation. Over the last 40 years, rigorous medical trials proved that mifepristone is not only incredibly effective, but equally safe for women. According to the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the risk of serious complications from a medication abortion like mifepristone is less than 1 percent.
The drug has become one of the most widely used abortion methods in the United States. A 2024 data collection by the Federal Drug Administration stated that approximately 7.5 million women have used the medication since it was first approved in the year 2000 to end early pregnancies. Under former President Joe Biden, regulation about obtaining mifepristone became significantly less restrictive. Women could be prescribed mifepristone via telehealth by doctors, nurses, and physician’s assistants, and received it through the mail.
The U.S. government has been slowly encroaching upon the security of women’s body autonomy following the overturning of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade (2022), which ruled that the right to an abortion was protected within the Constitution. Even though 19 states have consequently banned access to the procedure, cases are only increasing in number due to online access to medication like mifepristone.
Earlier this May, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals placed new limits on the availability of mifepristone through telemedicine. The ruling states that “every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person.'” United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed a desire to review mifepristone’s effectiveness, and stated he believes that Biden officials “twisted the data” provided about the drug.
The ban on mailing prescription abortion medication disproportionately affects rural, low-income women, as well as victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse/assault, and communities of color. According to Slate Magazine, “in the first half of last year[2025], telehealth care accounted for nearly 40 percent of abortions in Delaware and Nevada, where residents might live hours away from the closest clinic.” Regardless, hotlines, websites, and organizations still provide access to medication like mifepristone while bypassing the U.S. regulatory system.
Two companies that manufacture mifepristone appealed to the Supreme Court, urging them to reconsider the Louisiana court’s ruling. The order consequently issued by the Justices allowed for the continuation of shipping the medication while the state court judges its legality. Despite this, conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito challenged the decision, stating that it violates the Comstock Act, a federal law from 1873 that criminalized the U.S. Postal Service’s involvement in the mailing of abortion-related material. This act has not been observed for decades.
The Trump administration and pro-life organizations continue to champion legislation and case law that infringes upon women’s rights to medical privacy and choice, something that has been protected in the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution since abortion was legalized in 1973. Fatalities from these bans are becoming more and more prevalent: Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old woman who was 20 weeks pregnant died of preeclampsia after being denied an abortion in the state of Texas, and Adriana Smith, a 30-year-old woman who was declared legally dead due to brain trauma, was forced to carry a fetus to term despite her condition on life support due to Georgia’s strict anti abortion laws.
The Center for Reproductive Rights says that “medication abortion—in the U.S., most commonly a two-drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol—accounts for more than 60% of abortions in the U.S. each year.” Advocates argue that preserving telehealth access to mifepristone is critical to ensuring safe abortion options remain available nationwide.
