Red states advance 200-plus medication abortion restriction bills in 2026 sessions

Republican-controlled legislatures advanced more than 200 bills targeting medication abortion during 2026 state sessions, replicating Texas and Louisiana laws restricting mifepristone prescribing, mail distribution, and pharmacy dispensing. The wave followed the 2022 Dobbs decision returning abortion regulation to states, and came as the Fifth Circuit simultaneously reviewed FDA rules governing mifepristone mail distribution. States including Texas, Louisiana, Idaho, and Tennessee were furthest along in restricting the pill, which accounts for more than half of all US abortions.