Supreme Court Issues Temporary Stay in Mifepristone Telemedicine Dispute

U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay Monday protecting access to mifepristone via telemedicine appointments or the mail. The stay is in place until next week while the high court reviews emergency appeals.

U.S. Court of Appeals issued Friday that would have stopped the telehealth and mail option for mifepristone.

U.S. Court of Appeals to reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone. Louisiana has a strict law that prohibits abortion with few exceptions. The state argued that people who received the medication through the mail or telehealth were violating that law.

In 2023, President Joe Biden eliminated an in-person prescription requirement for mifepristone, permitting distribution via telehealth and the mail. U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000.

If telehealth and mail options end, mifepristone would still be available through in-person consultations, though that could prove logistically difficult for patients in states with restrictive abortion laws. Medication abortion has become the most frequently used method of abortion in the United States.

The standard two-drug medication abortion regimen consists of 200 milligrams of mifepristone followed by 800 micrograms of misoprostol up to 48 hours later.

When used together, mifepristone and misoprostol are 85% to 98% effective at ending a pregnancy and carry a less than 1% rate of hospitalization. Mifepristone blocks a hormone called progesterone, which the body needs for the pregnancy to continue. Misoprostol is approved to prevent and treat gastric ulcers caused by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Misoprostol can be used orally or vaginally. Even without mifepristone, medication abortion remains possible through misoprostol alone. Misoprostol alone is considered a medically acceptable approach by the World Health Organization.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says a misoprostol-only regimen is an acceptable alternative if mifepristone is unavailable. Using misoprostol alone is usually effective about 90% of the time, according to Dr. Rachel Jensen.

When misoprostol is used alone, bleeding will typically begin within one to four hours. Heavy bleeding from misoprostol alone usually lasts about three to five hours, but bleeding can last two weeks or longer. One study suggested that patients using misoprostol alone should be prescribed three or four doses, as well as an additional dose in case it is needed.

A 2020 study of nearly 12,200 women who used misoprostol by itself found that 26 had to be hospitalized or were transfused for abortion-related reasons. Dr. " Dr.

U.S. And internationally have a high satisfaction rate. " Some health organizations such as Carafem offer misoprostol alone as an option. Cnn reported that this approach was often used before mifepristone's approval and remains common in other countries.