The Supreme Court temporarily blocked restrictions on mifepristone from taking effect, preserving women’s ability to obtain the widely used abortion pill by mail and through telehealth visits — at least until Thursday.
Justice Samuel Alito issued the order Monday, halting a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that would have suspended mail access to mifepristone while a Louisiana lawsuit plays out in court. Louisiana argues that federal rules governing the drug’s prescription undermine its state abortion ban and raise safety concerns about the medication, which was first approved by the FDA in 2000 and has been repeatedly affirmed as safe and effective.
The case arrives four years after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade, enabling more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion. Medication abortions now account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the United States, making access to mifepristone a central battleground in the ongoing legal fight.
The current dispute echoes a similar case from three years ago, when lower courts also sought to restrict the drug in a suit brought by anti-abortion physicians. The Supreme Court blocked those restrictions from taking effect — over the dissent of Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas — and ultimately dismissed that case unanimously in 2024 on standing grounds.
In the current case, mainstream medical organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and Democratic lawmakers have filed briefs urging the court not to limit access to the drug. Industry groups warned that a ruling against the FDA’s authority could destabilize the broader drug approval process.
The Trump administration has notably stayed on the sidelines, declining to submit a written brief despite federal regulations being at issue. Both sides have interpreted the silence as tacit support for the appellate ruling. The political calculus is delicate: Trump relies on anti-abortion constituencies but faces broad public support for abortion access.
