A federal court blocked a widely used abortion pill from distribution by mail. Here's what to know

In the biggest jolt to abortion policy in the U.S. since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a federal appeals court has restricted access to one of the most common ways to end early pregnancies, by blocking the mailing of mifepristone prescriptions.

The unanimous ruling Friday from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marks a substantial victory for abortion opponents seeking to stem the flow of abortion pills prescribed online that they view as subverting state bans on the procedure.

The ruling, which is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, requires that mifepristone be distributed only in person and at clinics, overruling regulations set by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Here's what to know.

Frustrated with a lack of federal action against medicated abortions, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill sued the FDA last month, saying its regulations undermined the state’s ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy.

“The regulation creates an effective way for an out-of-state prescriber to place the drug in the hands of Louisianans in defiance of Louisiana law,” Judge Kyle Duncan, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote in the ruling.

FDA officials have said the agency is conducting a new review of mifepristone’s safety, but the appeals court noted that there was no timeline for its completion.

Friday’s ruling is in effect while the case works its way through the courts. It affects all states, even those without abortion restrictions.

There is little precedent for a federal court overruling the scientific regulations of the FDA, and it remains to be seen how the decision could impact how the drug is dispensed long-term.

Murrill, a Republican, celebrated the ruling as a “victory for life” while other anti-abortion advocates cheered the reversal of rules finalized under President Joe Biden that ended a longstanding requirement that the pills be obtained at an in-person doctor’s visit.

Representatives for the FDA and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Danco Laboratories, a mifepristone manufacturer and defendant in the lawsuit, has asked the appeals court to put its order on hold for one week to give the company time to seek relief from the Supreme Court.

Mifepristone was approved in 2000 as a safe and effective way to end early pregnancies. It is typically used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol, which is not affected by the ruling but is less effective on its own.

Surveys have found that the majority of abortions in the U.S. are administered using pills and that about one in four abortions nationally are prescribed via telehealth. Providers have suggested that its availability through telehealth is a reason why the number of abortions in the U.S. has not fallen since Roe was overturned in 2022.

As a result, abortion pills and those who prescribe them out of state have become key targets of abortion opponents.

Some Democratic-led states have adopted laws that aim to protect providers who prescribe via telehealth and mail the pills to states with bans. Those so-called shield laws are being tested through civil and criminal cases in Louisiana and Texas.

One telehealth provider in a state with a shield law, Dr. Angel Foster, was working with legal experts to understand how the ruling would impact her organization, The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Project.

"We will do everything in our power to continue providing care to people in all 50 states,” she said.

The case could again make abortion a key issue in the midterm elections as Democrats aim to take back control of the U.S. House and Republicans fight to hold on to a narrow majority.

Recent electoral results suggest that voters seeking to maintain abortion access have the political momentum. Since Roe was overturned, abortion has been on the ballot directly in 17 states. Voters have sided with the abortion-rights side in 14 of those questions.

Abortion-rights supporter Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, slammed the ruling as “deeply out of step with both the public and fact-based science.”

Trump received criticism after the ruling from some anti-abortion advocates who expressed frustration that he did not take action himself to block distribution of the pill.

The FDA under Trump approved another generic version of mifepristone last year, which peeved some allies of the Republican president.

“It’s shameful that the Trump administration’s inaction has forced pro-life states to take their battle to the federal courts,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, who also applauded the ruling.

Dr. Marty Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, speaks while, from left, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joe Rogan, President Donald Trump, Joe Rogan and CEO of Americans for Ibogaine W. Bryan Hubbard listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Attorney General Liz Murrill speaks with the news media, Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

KÜHBACH, Germany (AP) — As the brass band played Bavarian tunes and the villagers drank their beer, watched and cheered, the young men of Kühbach in southern Germany pushed up their new maypole with long wooden rods until it stood perfectly straight against the sky.

In addition to the locals, people from all over Bavaria and beyond flocked to the small village of about 4,500 residents on Friday to watch the Maypole being erected — a custom that has been observed for centuries and is deeply rooted in Bavarian folklore.

“The Maypole is a symbol of togetherness,” said Mayor Karl-Heinz Kerscher, pointing at the youngsters pushing up the pole. "All these young guys, when they give it their all, when they show their strength, that’s just proof that we’re powerful, that Bavaria means something, and that here in Kühbach it’s twice as beautiful.”

May 1 is a public holiday observed all over Germany, but putting up maypoles in the center of the village is a beloved tradition celebrated primarily in Bavaria, Austria, and other parts of southern Germany as a symbol of not only community but also the beginning of spring and fertility.

In Kühbach, a lot of care and time is devoted to this custom every three years, when a new pole is raised.

Last winter, the Kühbacher Burschen, a village club with 240 members, chose a stately spruce in a nearby forest, cut it down, cut off all branches and the bark, let it dry, and painted it three times over in white and blue — the state colors of Bavaria.

On the sides of the tree, they attached metal signs with the guild emblems of the village, and — most important — they then guarded their precious maypole, which had been put up for storage in a former sawmill for weeks around the clock so that nobody would steal it.

Stealing each other's new maypoles is another beloved tradition in Bavaria. And if the theft is successful, the village that was robbed needs to buy back its maypole, and that gets very expensive: up to 200 liters (422 pints) of beer and a whole barbecued pig with potato dumplings and brown gravy — something that can easily fetch up to 3,000 euros ($3,325).

By Friday, however, no maypole had been stolen from Kühbach, and early in the morning the mostly young men and women, all dressed in their best lederhosen and light-blue dirndl dresses, came to the sawmill to triumphantly take it to the center of their village.

“Our motto is, ‘preserve traditions, shape the future’ — that really sums it up pretty well,” said Florian Oberhauser, 26, the head of the Kühbacher Burschen, or Kühbach Boys.

The 28-meter (92-foot) tall maypole was lifted horizontally on wooden carts and pulled into the village by two sturdy horses from the local beer brewery.

Once the procession — with children sitting on top of the pole in a long row — arrived at the market square, the Catholic priest, who had just finished his Mayday Mass, blessed the tree and the young men with holy water. Everyone drew closer together to pray and the actual work began.

Equipped with long wooden poles, the youngsters paired up on both sides of the pole and cheered each other with shouts of “Hau-Ruck,” as they slowly put up the Maybaum, as it is called in German.

When the maypole stood straight against the blue sky, the marching band played an extra fanfare, people poured into the huge festival tent, sat down on the benches, had pork roast and sausages for lunch — and some more beer.

Simone Nodlbichler, 41, who played the clarinet all morning as her band accompanied the Maypole procession through the village, past the church and to the market square of Kühbach, beamed as she put away her instrument.

“This tradition is being passed down from generation to generation," she said as her two teenage daughters looked on. “As you can see, both young and old are involved.”

“I think there’s a wonderful sense of community here, and it’s still very much alive," she added.

Young men guard a maypole in Kuehbach, Germany, Thursday, April 30, 2026, one night before they erected the pole. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Young men wear leather trousers as they erect a traditional May pole in Kuehbach, Germany, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

A young man drinks beer as he erects a traditional May pole in Kuehbach, Germany, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Young children sit on a May pole before it is erected in Kuehbach, Germany, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Young men wear leather trousers as they erect a traditional May pole in Kuehbach, Germany, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)