Supreme Court Considers Emergency Appeal Over In-Person Requirement for Mifepristone

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that restored an in-person screening requirement for access to the abortion pill. Anti-abortion groups urged the Supreme Court this week to uphold the appeals court ruling barring abortion pills from being sold online and transported to patients via mail.

M. Monday. Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay on Monday to allow both sides to brief the high court on the emergency petition.

M. on Monday. m. Monday. Louisiana officials brought the initial lawsuit challenging the FDA rule on mifepristone.

Louisiana officials and anti-abortion groups filed briefs to the Supreme Court calling on the justices to allow the 5th Circuit ruling to remain in effect. Louisiana’s brief was brought by officials from Louisiana and the conservative law firm Alliance Defending Freedom. The FDA lifted the in-person screening requirement under the Biden administration in 2023.

The FDA had long included an “in-person dispensing requirement” prior to the 2023 change. The Supreme Court issued its 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. “While this Court was preparing to ‘return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,’ the Biden administration was preparing a plan that predictably would undermine that decision.

That plan turned on the abortion drug mifepristone,” Louisiana’s brief stated. The brief argued that out-of-state prescribers are causing approximately 1,000 illegal abortions in Louisiana each month by mailing FDA-approved mifepristone into the state.

Those violations are directly causing tens of thousands of dollars of harm to Louisiana in the form of investigatory costs and Medicaid costs from emergency room visits.

Louisiana officials argued the drugmakers brought the emergency petition because they wish to increase their profits by selling more abortion drugs and otherwise avoid compliance costs. “Physicians cannot adequately inform a woman of her particular risks related to mifepristone without treating her in person.

And without in-person care, prescribing healthcare providers also cannot adequately determine whether patients are giving voluntary consent without coercion,” the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America brief stated. Republican lawmakers and states filed a brief supporting Louisiana’s position.

The brief from the GOP-led states was led by Nebraska. Twenty-three Republican-led states filed the brief.

Susan B. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the group, stated, “It’s shameful that the Trump administration’s inaction has forced pro-life states to take their battle to the federal courts.

The Trump administration did not file any brief to the Supreme Court either supporting or opposing the bid by the abortion pill drugmakers. In other court cases brought by Florida and Texas officials challenging the FDA rule, the Trump administration has attempted to dismiss lawsuits.

The Trump administration claims it is conducting a comprehensive review of the Biden-era rule easing restrictions on mifepristone.

In a 2024 case the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the FDA’s rule allowing mifepristone to be prescribed online and shipped nationwide. The Supreme Court ruled that the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine did not have proper standing to file the legal challenge. Washington Examiner reported these developments.