Supreme Court Temporarily Preserves Telehealth Access to Mifepristone

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on hold for one week, allowing mifepristone to continue being prescribed through telemedicine and sent through the mail at least through Monday, May 11, 2026. S.

Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans had issued the ruling on May 1, 2026, blocking telehealth access to mifepristone nationwide. Two drugmakers appealed that decision to the Supreme Court immediately after May 1, 2026. The state of Louisiana filed a brief arguing that the justices should allow the 5th Circuit ruling to take effect.

The Department of Justice, representing the FDA, did not file a brief by the Thursday evening deadline of May 7, 2026. "It's wild that DOJ is taking no position on whether a federal regulation should or should not be blocked for the duration of this case," Steve Vladeck stated.

The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 with a requirement that patients receive it in person at a clinic or doctor's office.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA began allowing mifepristone to be dispensed at a local pharmacy or through the mail, and the agency made the telemedicine policy official in 2023. Telemedicine abortion now accounts for one quarter of abortions across the country. S.

In 2025. Louisiana is the first state to schedule mifepristone as a controlled substance and the first state to criminally indict an out-of-state physician providing telemedicine abortion. Last fall, Louisiana sued the FDA, arguing that telemedicine access undermines its strict abortion ban.

The Guttmacher Institute estimated there were 9,000 abortions in Louisiana in 2025. A district court judge put the Louisiana case on hold in April 2026. The 5th Circuit then heard the appeal, resulting in the May 1 nationwide ruling.

Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote a 19-page opinion stating that telemedicine access to mifepristone injures Louisiana by undermining its laws and causing it to spend Medicaid funds on emergency care. " Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states submitted an amicus brief arguing that the appeals court decision put the policy choices of states with bans above those of states promoting access to abortion care.

A group of former leaders of the FDA wrote an amicus brief defending the FDA's process in approving mifepristone and modifying prescribing rules.

The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the 2023 Texas mifepristone case in 2024 because the plaintiffs lacked standing. The 2024 Supreme Court mifepristone case from Texas is still alive in Missouri. " A 44-year-old woman named Jane in Florida obtained a medication abortion via telemedicine in February 2024 after discovering an unplanned pregnancy.

Jane stated she was "relieved and grateful" to have the telemedicine option for mifepristone. A protocol using only misoprostol for medication abortion is just as safe and effective as the mifepristone-misoprostol combination but tends to have worse side effects.

President Trump suggested congressional Republicans be "flexible" about abortion restrictions in health care legislation earlier in 2026.