The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily restored broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone, blocking a lower-court ruling and allowing the drug to be obtained at pharmacies, through the mail and via telehealth without an in-person doctor visit, the court said in an order signed by Justice Samuel Alito.
The order will remain in effect for one week while both sides respond and the high court considers the issue more fully, the court said. The lower-court decision, issued last week, had imposed new restrictions on how mifepristone can be prescribed and dispensed.
Advocates and providers say medication abortions make up the majority of abortions in the U.S., and that telehealth prescriptions have helped blunt the impact of state bans since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. A recent report found that in 13 states with abortion bans at all stages of pregnancy, more women obtained abortions with pills prescribed by telehealth last year than by traveling to other states, advocates said.
The challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s rules was brought by Louisiana, which sued to roll back the FDA’s prescribing policies and questioned the safety of mifepristone, according to court filings. The FDA label says mifepristone taken with misoprostol completes a medical abortion 97.4% of the time. Misoprostol can be used alone for abortion and some studies put its effectiveness around 80% or higher. The FDA has never approved misoprostol specifically for ending pregnancies, the agency has said.
Providers said the quick back-and-forth rulings created confusion. Several telehealth groups briefly switched to prescribing misoprostol alone over the weekend but resumed the two-drug regimen after the Supreme Court order. “Regardless of what happens with this regulatory issue, we and other groups will continue to provide high-quality abortion care to patients in all 50 states,” said Dr. Angel Foster, founder of The Massachusetts Abortion Access Project. Julie Burkhart, founder of Wellspring Health Access, said the stay gives providers “a little bit more time to navigate this new landscape.” Elizabeth Ling, associate director of legal services at If/When/How, said the legal fight will not make it a crime for people to access care, noting that state laws do not currently include punishments for women who obtain abortions.
Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this article.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
