Attorney General Bonta Files Amicus Brief Supporting Continued Access to Mifepristone as Case Returns to Fifth Circuit

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 23 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of the manufacturers of mifepristone in Louisiana v. FDA. Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone in 2000, an estimated 7.5 million people in the United States have used the medication safely. Mifepristone, when used in combination with misoprostol, is the FDA-approved regimen used to terminate a pregnancy through 10 weeks. In today's amicus brief, the coalition urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reject Louisiana's request to reinstate a medically unnecessary requirement that mifepristone be dispensed in person. Today's filing comes as the case returns to the Fifth Circuit for a merits determination after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed continued access to mifepristone in May 2026 while the litigation proceeds.

"For more than two decades, mifepristone has been proven safe and effective," said Attorney General Bonta. "Science - not politics - should guide medical decisions. California will continue to protect access to reproductive healthcare."

Medication abortion now accounts for 63% of all abortions in the formal U.S. healthcare system, with approximately one in four abortions provided via telehealth. In the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that:

• Mifepristone is a safe and effective medication that has been used by millions of people nationwide and is a critical component of reproductive healthcare, with decades of research and clinical experience demonstrating its safety.
• The FDA's decision to remove the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone was amply supported by scientific evidence and helped expand access to medication abortion, particularly for people facing barriers like distance, cost, and limited provider availability.
• Reinstating the in-person dispensing requirement would harm States' efforts to protect access to reproductive healthcare by creating unnecessary barriers for patients, straining healthcare systems, and limiting access to other essential services provided by reproductive health clinics, such as pre- and postnatal care, family planning, cancer screening, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV.
• Louisiana seeks to improperly elevate the policy preferences of States that have banned or restricted abortion over the preferences of other States that have made the different but equally sovereign determinations to promote access to abortion care.

In filing today's amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.