Red state abortion pill case could wipe out blue state access

The next phase in the abortion wars may come down to one question: Do the rights of red states to enforce bans override the rights of blue states to protect access? Louisiana will argue before a federal appeals court this week that FDA rules allowing telehealth prescription and mail delivery of the drug mifepristone infringe on the state’s right to prohibit abortion within its borders. But should its lawsuit succeed — or one of the others like it filed by Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri or Texas — it would wipe out online and mail access in states where abortion is legal, cutting off millions of residents from a method they increasingly depend on. “They can have their ban,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said of Louisiana and the other states suing over federal telehealth abortion rules. “I don’t like it. I think it’s wrong. I think Roe v. Wade should be the rule, but it’s not, and we accept that. But don’t reach into our state and try to impose restrictions.” The case threatens to rip up the delicate national patchwork of abortion access that emerged after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, with dozens of GOP-led states restricting or banning abortion and the rest enacting laws to preserve access to mail-order pills and in-clinic surgical procedures. ----------------------------------------- Subscribe to our channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgjtvMmHXbutALaw9XzRkAg?view_as=subscriber Check out our video catalog: https://www.politico.com/video Follow POLITICO here: ➤ X: https://x.com/politico/ ➤ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/politico/ ➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/politico/