NEW ORLEANS (LifeSiteNews) — A federal appeals court blocked distribution of the abortion pill mifepristone by mail throughout the U.S. in a major ruling on Friday.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Louisiana in its challenge to the Biden FDA’s 2023 rule that allows mifepristone to be prescribed and dispensed remotely.

The policy has massively increased the use of the drug, undermining state pro-life laws, increasing abortion rates, and causing serious harm to women, according to data.

A three-judge panel unanimously backed Louisiana’s lawsuit, temporarily halting the abortion pill rule while the case moves forward.

The judges said that Louisiana is likely to succeed in the challenge, writing that the FDA policy “injures Louisiana by undermining its laws protecting unborn human life and also by causing it to spend Medicaid funds on emergency care for women harmed by mifepristone. Both injuries are irreparable.”

“Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions [i.e., chemical abortions] and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’” the ruling adds.

“Once lost, that sovereign prerogative of protecting unborn life cannot be regained by legal remedy.”

The decision is likely to be quickly appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Fifth Circuit’s ruling overrides a lower court decision last month that temporarily left the FDA policy in place and gave the Trump administration more time to complete an alleged review of abortion pill data.

The administration has faced intense criticism from pro-lifers for declining so far to take action against mail-order abortion pills. FDA chief Marty Makary has said that the agency is waiting until after it concludes the review, but Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have slammed the FDA’s lack of urgency and questioned if the review is even taking place.

Around two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. are now estimated to be committed using pills.

This story is developing…