The Supreme Court on Monday extended a freeze on new restrictions on mifepristone, allowing the widely used abortion pill to continue being prescribed by mail.
Why it matters: The extension, which runs through 5pm ET Thursday, provides a reprieve for pharmacies, telehealth companies and clinicians caught up in the latest legal tussle over accessing the pill.
Driving the news: Justice Samuel Alito extended a stay he granted last week after drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro asked the court to restore access to mifepristone through telehealth prescriptions and mail delivery.
- Anti-abortion advocates have been calling for a rollback of a Biden administration policy that expanded access to mifepristone and removed a requirement that patients see a provider in person before getting the medication.
- The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month sided with Louisiana in a case challenging the Biden administration rules.
- Louisiana argued the federal rules undermined its laws protecting unborn human life and caused it to spend Medicaid funds on emergency care for women harmed by mifepristone.
