5th Circuit Stops Mail-Order Abortion Drug: SCOTUS Intervenes

For complete Medicare guidance, dial (617) 644-0093 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter.

All @TheBrancaShow mugs!

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Exclusive Members-only content & perks! Only ~17 cents/day! $5/month!

FOUNDING FATHERS SPEED DIALFounding Fathers SPEED DIAL

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the FDA's 2023 regulation that allowed abortion drug mifepristone to be prescribed online and dispensed through the mail without an in-person physician visit. The he FDA itself acknowledged was built on "procedural deficits" and a "lack of adequate consideration" -- an admission that, as the court made plain, all but concedes the rule to be arbitrary and capricious, and thus appropriate to be stopped under the Administrative Procedures Act that has so frequently been brought to bear against Trump in his second term.

The court's reasoning is sound on two independent grounds. First, the FDA's deregulation was textbook arbitrary-and-capricious agency action: the agency eliminated its own adverse-event reporting requirements for mifepristone, then cited the resulting absence of data as justification for loosening safeguards.

Second, the regulation directly undermined Louisiana's sovereign authority to enforce its abortion laws -- authority the Supreme Court returned to the states in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

This case is not about abortion as a policy matter. It is about whether a federal agency can gut its own safety standards without adequate scientific support, and whether federal regulations can nullify state law. The 5th Circuit correctly answered both questions: No.

But the story doesn’t end there! Today, Justice Alito heard an appeal to the US Supreme Court to stay the 5th Circuit’s order, and granted an administrative stay for a week while the parties submitted their arguments directly to SCOTUS.

Join me LIVE at 4:30 PM ET as I break it all down!

Episode #1315.

Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.