Amicus Briefs: Louisiana v. FDA

Summary

Summary

Louisiana filed suit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on October 6, 2025, seeking to reinstate a medically unnecessary in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide.

On December 17, 2025, Louisiana asked the district court to temporarily reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement while the case is litigated. The FDA asked the district court to stay the case and deny Louisiana’s motion pending the FDA’s review of the mifepristone REMS. After a hearing on February 24, 2026, the district court issued a decision on April 7, 2026, denying Louisiana’s request and pausing the case while the FDA conducts its review. The district court directed the FDA to submit a status report in 6 months.

Louisiana appealed the district court’s decision to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals the following day. On April 17, 2026, Louisiana filed a motion asking the Fifth Circuit to temporarily reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement while its appeal proceeds. The Fifth Circuit granted that request on May 1, 2026, limiting access to mifepristone by telehealth across the country.

On May 2, 2026, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro—two pharmaceutical companies that manufacture mifepristone and have intervened as defendants in the case—asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the Fifth Circuit’s ruling from taking effect. The Supreme Court granted a one-week pause of the Fifth Circuit’s order on May 4, 2026, temporarily restoring telemedicine access to mifepristone. On May 11, 2026, it extended the pause through May 14, 2026.

On May 14, 2026, the Supreme Court granted a stay of the Fifth Circuit’s order, allowing people to continue to access mifepristone by mail and at pharmacies as the case proceeds. The case will now be sent back to the Fifth Circuit for full briefing and argument. It will likely make its way back to the Supreme Court after that.

To oppose Louisiana’s motions and support access to mifepristone, hundreds of experts submitted amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs. These briefs underscore the safety and efficacy of the medication abortion drug at issue (mifepristone) and urge the courts to reject Louisiana’s attempts to reinstate medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone nationwide.

Submitted by leading medical and health organizations; members of Congress; current and former government officials; reproductive health, rights and justice organizations; and many other experts, the briefs argue that accepting Louisiana’s arguments would upend the FDA’s evidence-based decision to lift the in-person dispensing requirement; harm patient health; and interfere with provider-patient decision-making. In addition, briefs outline mifepristone’s proven safety and efficacy since it was first approved more than two decades ago.

The amicus briefs filed by this broad range of experts, including the Center for Reproductive Rights, are available below. 

U.S. District Court, 2026

U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division, 2.20.26

• Brief of Over 100 Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice Organizations
• Brief of Former U.S. Department of Justice Officials
• Brief of Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and others dedicated to advancing the civil and human rights of people with disabilities and to ensuring their full and equal participation in society
• Brief of American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, and Other Leading Medical Societies
• Brief of Medical Students for Choice
• Brief of Abortion on Demand, Hey Jane, and the Reproductive Health Initiative for Telehealth Equity & Solutions (RHITES)
• Brief of National Domestic Violence Hotline and Legal Voice
• Brief of Former Commissioners and Acting Commissioners of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Brief of States of New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, and the District of Columbia

U.S. Fifth Circuit, 2026

U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, 4.23.26 – 4.24.26

• Brief of Reproductive Health Initiative for Telehealth Equity & Solutions (RHITEs), Hey Jane, and IGH PLLC d/b/a Abortion on Demand
• Brief of Legal Voice
• Brief of Honeybee Health, Inc.
• Brief of Vet Voice Foundation
• Brief of Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and Eight Other Organizations

U.S. Supreme Court, 2026

U.S. Supreme Court, 5.4.26 – 5.7.26

• Brief of States of New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, and the Governor of Pennsylvania
• Brief of 259 Members of Congress
• Brief of 175 Professors, Health Organizations, and Healthcare Providers
• Brief of Reproductive Health Initiative for Telehealth Equity & Solutions (RHITES), Hey Jane, and IGH PLLC d/b/a Abortion on Demand
• Brief of Physicians for Reproductive Health
• Brief of Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund et al.
• Brief of Former Commissioners and Acting Commissioners of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration
• Brief of 360 Reproductive Health Researchers
• Brief of American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, et al.
• Brief of Medical Students for Choice
• Brief of National Council of Jewish Women, Religious Community for Reproductive Choice, Catholics for Choice, Hindus for Human Rights, Muslims for Progressive Values, Unitarian Universalist Association, and 46 other faith-based organizations
• Brief of Information Society Project at Yale Law School
• Brief of 163 Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice Organizations
• Brief of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
• Brief of Local Governments and Local Government Leaders
• Brief of FemInEM Foundation and American Academy of Emergency Medicine
• Brief of Food and Drug Law Scholars and Professors
• Brief of Honeybee Health, Inc.
• Brief of Legal Voice, et al.
• Brief of Former Military Officials, Former Civilian National Security Leaders, and Vet Voice Foundation
• Brief of Blood Cancer United and Nine Other Advocacy Groups