(LifeSiteNews) — A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has found that more than 97 percent of abortion pill prescriptions have been filled by mail-order pharmacies rather than physical retail locations in states that allow doing so since the elimination of the federal in-person dispensing requirement.

The study, published April 13, examined abortion pill procurement in ​27 states and the District of Columbia, where “telehealth” abortions are allowed, and compared them to states where abortion is legal but telehealth is subject to restrictions.

It found that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s elimination of the in-person dispensing requirement in January 2023 had a significant impact on how abortion seekers obtained abortion pills, with remote distribution jumping from 5 percent in May 2022 to 28 percent in June 2025.

“Nearly all (99.2%) of the mifepristone fills after the policy change were in states in which abortion was legal with telehealth allowed, which had an increase of 2,398.4 users per month,” MedPageToday summarized. “Only 1.8% of these fills were at retail pharmacies, with the rest being mail-order. But in the post-policy period in states where abortion is legal with telehealth restrictions, 39.4% of mifepristone users filled at mail-order pharmacies and 60.6% at retail pharmacies.”

The study highlights the key role remote distribution of abortion pills has played in preserving abortion “access” despite pro-life state laws, ever since the Biden administration both eliminated the in-person dispensing requirement and stopped enforcing the federal law against distributing abortifacients through the postal system, which the Trump administration has so far refused to reverse.

Mail-order abortion pills make chemical abortions even in pro-life states extremely difficult to prevent. The latest data from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute found 1,125,930 clinical abortions in 2025, a slight increase from 2024, which Guttmacher attributed in large part to abortion pills. Planned Parenthood’s 2024-2025 annual report boasts it alone committed 434,450 abortions, a record number for the organization and 8 percent more than the previous year.

In May 2025, the Trump administration promised to review the safety data on abortion pills, giving hope of reversal of its stance, but nearly a year without updates has prompted frustration among pro-lifers, with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) going so far as to question if the study is underway at all. Pro-lifers have argued a new official finding on the pills’ safety should not be necessary to restore enforcement of the federal law against mailing abortion pills across state lines.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Louisiana David Joseph denied a lawsuit by Louisiana to force action, granting the federal government’s request to stay the case while ordering it to provide a status update on its alleged review in six months. Louisiana is appealing the decision.