The Supreme Court stepped in on Monday to temporarily preserve telehealth and mail access to mifepristone, the medication used in more than 60 percent of abortions in the United States, while the justices review emergency appeals challenging a lower court ruling that had reinstated a nationwide requirement that the drug be obtained in person. The administrative stay, issued by Justice Samuel Alito, maintains the status quo through May 11, giving the court time to consider appeals from the drug’s manufacturers, both of which argued the 5th Circuit ruling risked immediate disruption for patients with existing appointments. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, women have been able to obtain mifepristone through telehealth and have it delivered by mail, a pathway the Biden administration formalized in 2023, and medication abortion has since become the most common method of abortion in the country. Louisiana had sued arguing the telehealth rule conflicted with its own state abortion ban, and a conservative federal appeals court sided with the state before Monday’s stay put that ruling on hold.
The Supreme Court reviewed mifepristone once before, in 2024, unanimously rejecting a prior challenge on narrow procedural grounds that both sides acknowledged left the door open to future lawsuits, making this the second emergency involving the drug to reach the justices in two years. A CNN analysis of available safety data found that mifepristone has fewer reported side effects than Viagra or penicillin, and the FDA’s own record over more than two decades reflects that. The drug’s manufacturer told the court that the appeals court ruling injected immediate confusion into highly time-sensitive medical decisions, while Louisiana’s attorney general said she was confident the stay was temporary. A final ruling on the emergency appeals is expected before May 11.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/04/politics/supreme-court-abortion-mifepristone
