The state of Texas filed a major lawsuit on Dec. 12 against a New York doctor who mailed abortion pills to a woman in Collin County, Texas, on the grounds that the doctor was practicing medicine without a Texas license and violating the state's abortion ban. The lawsuit raises difficult legal questions about whether a state can drag a doctor who abides by another state's laws into its courts or enforce a judgment if it wins. But more than that, the lawsuit is a window into the next battleground over abortion rights — and how abortion pills and telemedicine are changing abortion politics in America.
The end goal of the anti-abortion movement is to establish fetal personhood—the idea where life and constitutional rights begin the moment when sperm fertilizes an egg. Reference was made to fetal personality 2024 GOP platform and incorporated into a strategy supported by most leading anti-abortion groups. It has been a focus of the movement's efforts for 50 years.
But with blue states and many red states affirming abortion rights, it doesn't seem like fetal personhood is coming any time soon. Meanwhile, abortion opponents have set their sights on blocking access to abortion pills – mifepristone and misoprostol. The Supreme Court dismissed a Texas lawsuit against mifepristone in June (based on standing), but as the new case shows, that hasn't discouraged the anti-abortion movement.
Here's why: Medication abortion, also called chemical abortion, has made it difficult to enforce abortion bans in the states where they exist — even if Roe vs. Wade is reversed. Studies show an increase The number of abortions performed annually in the United States is increasing. Abortion pills also make it harder to intimidate doctors and stigmatize abortion.
When all abortions were surgical, the procedure had to be performed in inpatient facilities. The clinics have been the target of protests and sometimes violence and vandalism. However, abortion pills can be prescribed remotely through a telemedicine consultation and are taken at home very early in pregnancy. Pills make abortions more private and distance patients from clinic protests, and their effects can resemble a miscarriage that occurs early in pregnancy 20% of known pregnancies – so much so that doctors have no reliable way to tell symptoms apart. Combined with the backlash against reversing Roe, the nature of medication abortion appears to be changing the way Americans think about abortion: The number of those who view abortion as a moral choice has increased increased in recent years.
The Texas lawsuit is part of a much broader anti-abortion strategy being implemented in the new year. In addition to fighting telemedicine and pills, anti-abortion groups plan to go after anyone who supports or facilitates abortion – for example, internet service providers who enable websites to provide abortion Information about abortion pills and where to get them. Other proposals copy a Louisiana law that describes safe and effective abortion medications as “safe and effective.”controlled substances.”
In addition to these maneuvers, look for abortion opponents to lobby the Trump administration Reinterpreting the Comstock Acta 19th-century obscenity law that made it illegal to send anything used in abortions by mail. That could create the equivalent of a nationwide ban, which Congress has yet to pass into law Voters don't want it.
And there are other steps the Trump administration could take that would dramatically change abortion access. In 2023, the Food and Drug Administration Changes made on restrictions on mifepristone and telemedicine abortion appointments. Since then, anti-abortion groups have developed a host of arguments against the FDA's regulations. They argue that the consensus of peer-reviewed studies is wrong and that Mifepristone is extremely dangerous. That's what they argued too Mifepristone and fetal “remains” pose a threat to the environment pollute the groundwater.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who would have oversight of the FDA if confirmed as Trump's nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, said he was pro-choice on the campaign trail, but he also did it signaled openness to the anti-abortion movement. Claims about drug safety and environmental dangers could resonate with Kennedy, who is an opponent of Big Pharma and once worked in environmental law.
The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe did nothing to end the abortion battles. Instead, it gave them new life. Fights over telemedicine consultations, access to abortion pills by mail, and FDA safety regulations could make abortion bans far more effective, reshape the process in states that protect abortion rights, and expand the power of one state to dictate policy in another .
Most importantly, if abortion opponents succeed in making abortion pills inaccessible, the stigma surrounding abortion could well increase and access to the procedure decrease. That's why anti-abortion groups are relentless in their search for pills. At stake is nothing less than how Americans view abortion itself.
Mary Ziegler is a law professor at UC Davis. Her latest book, Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction The release is scheduled for April.