California Abortion Pill Suppliers Prepare Misoprostol Backup Ahead of Supreme Court Deadline

California-based suppliers of abortion pills are preparing contingency plans should the Supreme Court restrict access to mifepristone. The justices are weighing limits on mailing the drug in the case Louisiana v. FDA.

The court has not scheduled a final decision, but faces a May 11 deadline. That is when its temporary pause on a lower-court ruling expires unless extended.

The Fifth Circuit decision would reverse recent FDA changes. It would restore older rules requiring in-person dispensing of mifepristone, halting telehealth prescriptions and mail delivery nationwide. Justice Samuel Alito issued the administrative stay to block the ruling while the Supreme Court reviews the matter.

Mifepristone figures in nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions. With the legal status of mail delivery in doubt, California suppliers have begun shifting strategies.

Supply chains in the state stand ready to switch to alternative abortion drugs within a day, Dr. Michele Gomez, co-founder of the MYA Network, told the Los Angeles Times. The group aims to normalize abortion care.

"It’s not going away, and it’s not going to slow down," she said of abortion.

Misoprostol sits at the heart of this shift. It pairs with mifepristone in the regimen used for most U.S. abortions. Health officials note, however, that misoprostol alone proves less effective and carries greater side-effect risks.

"Mifepristone with misoprostol is more effective than misoprostol used alone, and is associated with fewer side-effects," the World Health Organization states.

Suppliers remain prepared to distribute the backup drug despite those risks.

"We heard about this on Friday and organizations that mail pills were mailing misoprostol on Saturday," Gomez told the Times. "They already knew what to do."

On May 1, the Fifth Circuit sided with Louisiana. It held that the FDA exceeded its authority by permitting mail shipment of abortion pills from states where legal to states where not. Alito's stay holds for now, but ends May 11.

Fox News Digital sought comment from the MYA Network and FDA without immediate reply.