The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily restored broad access to the abortion pill Mifepristone, blocking a lower court ruling that threatened to change how one of the nation’s most commonly used abortion methods is provided.
The order, signed by Justice Samuel Alito, allows women seeking abortions to continue obtaining the pill through pharmacies, telehealth, and the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor, Newsmax reported.
The rules had been in place for several years before a federal appeals court imposed new restrictions last week. Medication abortions account for a majority of abortions in the United States, usually involving mifepristone followed by a second drug, misoprostol.
The availability of abortion pills has played a major role in abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and allowed states to enforce abortion bans.
Louisiana sued to restrict access to Mifepristone, arguing that the drug’s availability undermines the state’s abortion ban.
Some Democrat-led states have passed laws intended to protect doctors and other providers who prescribe abortion pills through telehealth to patients in states with abortion bans.
Alito’s order will remain in effect temporarily while both sides file responses and the court considers the issue more fully.
Manufacturers of Mifepristone filed emergency appeals asking the Supreme Court to intervene.
Last week, a federal appeals court temporarily blocked a Biden-era rule allowing abortion pills to be distributed by mail, a decision that could significantly affect access to medication abortion across the United States as broader legal challenges continue to unfold, PBS reported.
In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with the state of Louisiana, finding it was likely to succeed in its challenge to a 2023 regulation issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. That rule had removed a long-standing requirement that the abortion drug mifepristone be dispensed in person, allowing patients to receive it through the mail following telehealth consultations.
The court’s decision is temporary and will remain in place while the broader case proceeds, but it marks the first time a federal court has moved to roll back expanded access to the drug in recent years.
Mifepristone is one of two medications commonly used in abortion care, typically followed by misoprostol, and is approved for use during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. According to research cited in court filings, medication abortion now accounts for a majority of abortions in the U.S., with a growing share of prescriptions delivered through telehealth services rather than in-person visits.
The legal challenge stems from a lawsuit filed by Louisiana, where officials argued that the FDA failed to adequately consider potential risks when it relaxed dispensing requirements. Those concerns include rare but serious complications such as hemorrhaging or infection. In its ruling, the appeals court questioned whether the agency had sufficiently justified its decision to ease restrictions.
Circuit Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote that the FDA’s “progressive relaxation” of safeguards around the drug “likely lacked a basis in data and scientific literature,” signaling skepticism toward the regulatory changes made in recent years.
The Biden administration had defended the rule, maintaining that mifepristone is safe and effective based on extensive clinical data. Federal health officials have pointed to studies showing serious adverse events occur in a small fraction of cases, generally cited as less than 1 percent.
The companies that manufacture and distribute the drug—Danco Laboratories, which produces the brand-name version Mifeprex, and GenBioPro, which makes a generic version—have intervened in the case to support the FDA’s position. Both companies have argued that restricting access would disrupt care and harm patients who rely on medication abortion, particularly in states with limited clinic availability.
