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The Editorial Board

By The Editorial Board

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

After the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion three years ago, both supporters and opponents of the court’s ruling expected the number of abortions to fall. After all, nearly 40 percent of U.S. women now live in a state with severe restrictions. Instead, the number of women receiving abortions has increased nationwide, even in most states with bans. This surprising outcome shows that women who want or need to end their pregnancies are determined to find ways to do so — and that abortion pills have transformed the practice of reproductive medicine.

One in four abortions in the United States now takes place through telehealth — with pills that people order online. A doctor writes a prescription and a mail-order pharmacy fills it. When the pills arrive, women, including many living in red states, can take them at home to end a pregnancy in its first few months. The method has proved remarkably safe and effective, according to study after study. Pioneered in 2006 by the Dutch doctor Rebecca Gomperts to serve women mostly in low-income countries where abortion was criminal, telehealth abortion has become critical for maintaining access in the United States.

But it would be a mistake to assume that this status quo will continue. Republican politicians are working hard to restrict telehealth abortion through a combination of state and federal action. For abortions to remain as accessible as they have been in the past three years, defenders of reproductive health and freedom will need to fight back. They can do so confident that public opinion is on their side. Americans think medication abortion should be legal by a margin of about two to one.

The primary way that abortion opponents are trying to restrict access is to block the interstate mailing of abortion pills. Louisiana and Texas have taken the most aggressive steps so far. In Louisiana, prosecutors have filed criminal charges against abortion providers in New York and California for prescribing and sending pills from out of state. In Texas, the attorney general, Ken Paxton, and a private lawyer, Jonathan Mitchell, have filed lawsuits against out-of-state providers and Aid Access, which Ms. Gomperts founded and is one of the largest telehealth services.

On Sept. 17, Texas invited a flood of new lawsuits with a

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