OPINION: I am not saying abortion access is like enslavement (though there is the thread of bodily autonomy running through both), but this reminds me of the Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) decision.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a lawsuit that seeks to ban using telehealth for abortions —both in states where abortion is presently illegal AND where it’s legal.

And it’s state versus state again, harkening back to a big bad time for our nation.

And though I am not saying abortion access is like enslavement (though there is the thread of bodily autonomy running through both), this reminds me of the Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) decision, which laid bare the tension between states where Black people were free and the states where we were not. Eerily, these same eventual Confederate states are the very same ones where abortion is totally illegal, or limited to six weeks, save Virginia.

As it now stands, medication abortion is approved by the FDA for use before 11 weeks of pregnancy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA began allowing the “abortion pill” mifepristone to be prescribed through telehealth and sent to patients in the mail. That became official policy in 2023, reports NPR.

A patient can have an ultrasound and then consult with a doctor by telehealth, who will then prescribe mifepristone to be sent to their home, or they can pick it up from a clinic or pharmacy.

In short, Louisiana is arguing that telemedicine for abortion circumvents state bans on abortion.

A patient in Louisiana, which has a strict abortion ban, can consult over telehealth with a doctor in a state with a shield law, like Colorado, and have abortion medications shipped in the mail right to their door.

That’s why anti-abortion rights groups have filed several lawsuits to stop telehealth abortion access nationally; the states of Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas also filed similar suits, reports Politico.

Conversely, if Louisiana, which bans abortions, wins this appeal, Colorado will not be able to use telehealth for medical abortions, seriously curbing access to the procedure nationwide.