On Tuesday, July 15, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Court upheld a West Virginia law prohibiting all abortions, including drug-induced abortions using the abortion drug, mifepristone. The case began when GenBioPro, the manufacturer of the generic form of mifepristone, the abortion drug, sued the State claiming that FDA regulations allowing the dispensing of mifepristone supersede the West Virginia law. The court found otherwise. Consistent with the Dobbs decision, the court upheld the right of the states to regulate abortion and protect the health and safety of its citizenry. The federal government’s authority to regulate a drug where it can be legally dispensed does not supersede that state authority.
This case is a major victory for the pro-life movement. It solidifies the rights of states to ban both surgical and drug-induced abortions. It also provides credence to state laws that allow but regulate surgical and drug-induced abortions and the right of states to closely regulate mifepristone.
Statistics show that most abortions in North Carolina are drug-induced abortions. Growing evidence shows that mifepristone is far more dangerous than the public has been led to believe. Furthermore, with the FDA’s relaxation of regulation on the drugs, it can now be mailed into the state in violation of the safety restrictions in North Carolina law.
NC Values has been on the forefront of attempting to stop the illegal shipment of these drugs into the State. We must continue to fight to stop this violation of the law by passing stronger laws to prevent it and to enforce those laws in our courts.
