Supreme Court Extends Order Preserving Mail Access to Abortion Pill Mifepristone

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday extended a temporary order that preserves mail access to the abortion pill mifepristone for now.

Justice Samuel Alito issued a brief order stating that an administrative stay he entered last week will remain in effect until at least Thursday at 5 p.m. The action provides the court more time to decide whether to halt an appellate ruling that reinstated a Food and Drug Administration requirement for in-person dispensing of mifepristone.

Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, two pharmaceutical companies that produce the drug, asked the Supreme Court earlier this month to overturn the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit decision. They sought to maintain the ability of abortion providers to prescribe mifepristone online and mail it to patients during ongoing litigation. Alito oversees emergency appeals from the 5th Circuit.

Mifepristone works in combination with misoprostol to end early pregnancies. The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that backs abortion rights, reported that medication abortions accounted for 65 percent of all clinician-provided abortions in 2023.

Louisiana officials sued the FDA last year over rules permitting mifepristone to be mailed, a move that could limit access nationwide, even in states where abortion remains legal. The state contends the FDA policy lets providers evade its near-total abortion ban. As a result, "streams of mifepristone" flow into Louisiana by mail, resulting in "thousands" of illegal abortions annually, according to state officials.

A federal district court paused Louisiana's lawsuit against the FDA last month pending the agency's review of mifepristone's safety. Louisiana appealed, and the 5th Circuit agreed to block temporarily the 2023 FDA policy that allows remote prescriptions and mail delivery of the drug.