(WKYT) – Attorney General Russell Coleman joined 23 state attorneys general in asking the Supreme Court to restrict access to mail-in abortion pills.
In a brief, the state attorneys general asked the court to maintain a stay, or pause, in an updated provision that allows out-of-state doctors to prescribe mifepristone, an abortion drug, without an in-person appointment.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) in 2023 to govern mifepristone and remove the previous requirement that the pill be dispensed in person, allowing it to be prescribed via telehealth appointments, according to the brief.
Louisiana challenged the REMS, and the Fifth Circuit granted the state’s request for a pause in the 2023 REMS.
According to the brief, Louisiana argued that the 2023 REMS directly interferes with Louisiana’s ability to enforce its laws, as the state has passed legislation that limits chemical abortions and requires abortion-inducing drugs to be dispensed in person.
Louisiana also claimed it suffered “pocketbook harm” as a result of the 2023 REMS.
“Activist groups from New York and California have been flooding our Commonwealth with these deadly pills without proper medical supervision,” Attorney General Coleman said. “We’re asking the Supreme Court to recognize that Kentucky has the ability to protect the health and safety of our citizens.”