How Texas women could be impacted by the Supreme Court's pending decision on abortion pills

On Monday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito or the entire Supreme Court could decide the next steps for the abortion drug mifepristone.

Alito restored full access to the medication after the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the FDA's rule from 2023 allowing mifepristone to be sent to patients through the mail after they had a telehealth visit was wrong.

Instead, they reinstituted prior rules requiring patients to have in-person doctor visits to receive the drug. The case involves a Louisiana law.

Texas banned the use of mifepristone for elective abortions in 2022. But the FDA's rule in 2023 allowed Texas women to get the pills in the mail after a telehealth visit.

Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink spoke with lawmakers on both sides of this issue.

Democratic State Representative and Chairwoman of the Texas Women's Health Caucus, Donna Howard of Austin, said, "This is politicians, legislators trying to practice medicine without a license, and not looking at the, I hope, what were unintended consequences of what got put in place."

"The fact is that mifepristone is not only the most effective medication used for abortion; it is also used for miscarriage management," said Howard. "Which affects many women in our state who have pregnancy losses in the first trimester. And this is a drug of choice used in that management to help them be able to pass the tissue without having to go into an office for a surgical procedure. So, really, it's going to affect a lot of people beyond what I think was intended by politicians."

Republican State Senator Bryan Hughes of Tyler, author of various abortion bills in the state, told Jack, "The doctor visit is important because if the little baby has developed more than the mom realizes, the mom is in real danger with these pills because the baby is too large for her to deliver after the little baby's been killed by the abortion pills." 

"And, if the mom has an ectopic pregnancy and doesn't know that without a doctor visit, that also can cause serious problems for the mom," said Hughes. "So, we believe the Fifth Circuit did the right thing. When they said, if you're going to do this, at least have protections in place for the mom. And so, again, requiring the in-person office visit and requiring the drugs be done in the doctor's office. So, we'll see what the U.S. Supreme Court does."

Justice Alito could extend his temporary stay beyond May 11, or Justices could stay the Appeals Court's ruling and keep telehealth access to the drug until it eventually gets back to the Supreme Court.

Alternatively, justices could side with the appeals court and end telehealth access to the pills and wait for the case to reach the Supreme Court.

This week's full episode can be found below: