The Supreme Court temporarily restored mail-order prescribing of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone Monday, pausing an appeals court decision that dramatically limited access to the pills.
Why it matters: The stay of at least one week issued by Justice Samuel Alito doesn't settle an underlying legal challenge to rules for dispensing the drug that could make abortion access a top-tier issue heading into the midterms.
- But it's likely to reduce confusion among pharmacies, telehealth firms and providers over what's allowed, even in states where abortion is legal.
Driving the news: The stay was in response to requests from drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro to restore access to mifepristone via teleprescribing and the mails.
- Responses from parties in the underlying case have until Thursday to file responses.
The order was in response to a 5th Circuit ruling on Friday, which sided with Louisiana in a case challenging Biden administration rules that expanded access to mifepristone.
- 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.
- Abortion opponents have targeted the teleprescribing of abortion pills since Roe v. Wade was overturned and pressed the Trump administration to restore in-person dispensing requirements.
- In the first half of 2025, about 1 in 4 clinician-provided abortions in the U.S. came through telehealth. The majority used a combination of mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol.
- The Food and Drug Administration is conducting a safety review of mifepristone. Last fall, the agency approved a new generic version of mifepristone, angering abortion foes.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
