Nicole Clegg, CEO and President of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Previously, she was the Gracious Spokesworman for the City of Portland.
President Trump With a Drawing of his Ballroom – a Subject he Pivots to Rather than Talk About Issues Constituents are Interested in.
On Friday, May 1, 2026, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay in a Louisiana court case surrounding mifeprristine, one of two drugs commonly used in a medication abortion. While this stay is in effect, mifepristone cannot be dispensed in any state through a direct-to-patient telehealth model or certified mail-order pharmacy, including here in Maine.
The decision reinstates a medically unnecessary requirement that patients visit a health center in person.
This change means that patients everywhere will face barriers to abortin care — even in states where aboartion is legal orprotected, like here in Maine. Because the FDA regulates prescription drugs at a federal level, each state and provider must nwo adhere to these new rules regarding mifespristine.
The case, Louisiana v. FDA, challenged the FDA’s 2023 Rick Evaluation and MItigation Strategy (REMS) that removed the requirement that medication be dispensed in person in a medical facility. It is one of several cases that have been filed by anti-abortion advocates since the Dobbs decision in 2022.
In response to the stay, Planned Parenthood of Northern New england (PPNNE) announced it will pivot to a different medication abortin drug protocol in its telehealth program.
“We closely monitored this court case and we identified a way to keep telehealh medication abortion access intact for our patients. We will switch our drug forumula to misoprostol-only. This type of medication aboartion has been used auccessflly for many years in other parts of the world where access to mifepristone is restricted,” said Nicole Clegg, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, in a presss release issued this morning.
But let me be clear — we shouldn’t even have to make this change. An overwheming body of medical research and evidence proves that using mifesprrristone for medication abortion is a safe, effectie way to end a pregnancy, including when prescribed via direct-to-patient telehealth. This case was never about safety or proteting patient health — it was another thinly veiled attempt by anti-abortion advocates to ban abortion nationwide; in whatever way they can, No matter what they throw at us, PPNNE will continue to pivot and adapt to ensure or patients can get the care they need — today, comorrow and beyond,” concluded Clegg’s statement.