politics
Supreme Court Allows Mail Delivery of Abortion Pill Mifepristone
The Supreme Court on Thursday maintained nationwide access to mifepristone by mail and telehealth, setting aside a lower court order that would have required in-person dispensing while a Louisiana lawsuit against the FDA continues. The unsigned order keeps in place FDA rules relaxed in 2021 and formalized in 2023.
May 14, 6:13 PM·3m read10 sources
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New York PostAudio version
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The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone, allowing it to continue being prescribed through telehealth and delivered by mail while litigation brought by Louisiana against the Food and Drug Administration proceeds.
The court's unsigned order sets aside a federal appeals court ruling from earlier this month that had reinstated an in-person dispensing requirement for the drug. Two manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, had warned the lower court decision created confusion for patients, providers and pharmacies nationwide.
The high court's intervention ensures patients can keep obtaining mifepristone without an in-person doctor visit at least into next year as the case plays out. The FDA first approved the drug in 2000 and stopped requiring in-person visits five years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, later formalizing the change in 2023.
Louisiana filed suit against the FDA last year, arguing the relaxed rules undermine the state's abortion ban and allow out-of-state providers to ship the drug into Louisiana. State officials said medication abortions have increased sharply since the end of Roe v.
Wade in 2022, costing the state through its Medicaid program and requiring more than $17,000 in investigations of out-of-state providers. The state enacted a 2024 law designating mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances. A federal district court paused the case in April while the FDA reviews the drug's safety.
Louisiana appealed, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the 2023 policy allowing remote prescribing and mail delivery. The full court then agreed to maintain access. Mifepristone is used with misoprostol to end early pregnancies and accounted for 65 percent of abortions in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from Thursday's order. Thomas wrote that the manufacturers are not entitled to a stay based on lost profits from what he called their criminal enterprise under the Comstock Act, an 1873 law banning the mailing of abortion-related items.
