The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that would have restricted access to the abortion medication mifepristone, keeping current federal prescribing rules intact as litigation continues. The order, issued May 14, came in response to an emergency request from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Two conservative justices publicly objected to the court’s intervention.
The Supreme Court’s action ensures that patients can continue to obtain mifepristone through telemedicine and mail-order prescriptions, at least for the time being. Without the court’s intervention, access to the drug would have been curtailed in ways not seen since the Food and Drug Administration first approved it in 2000.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the majority’s decision to pause the lower court’s ruling.
The legal dispute centers on a May 1 ruling by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ordered the FDA to revise its prescribing regulations for mifepristone in response to a lawsuit brought by the state of Louisiana. The appellate court’s directive was notable: federal appeals courts rarely instruct regulatory agencies to alter the rules governing an already-approved drug.
Louisiana’s lawsuit specifically challenges the expanded availability of mifepristone through telemedicine, which allows patients to receive prescriptions and have the medication delivered by mail without an in-person visit to a physician.
The Supreme Court’s order keeps FDA regulations in place while that challenge proceeds through the courts.
The ruling has drawn the issue of abortion access back into public debate during an election year, an outcome the Trump administration had sought to avoid. Notably, the Justice Department did not submit a position on how the Supreme Court should rule, a significant departure from standard practice in cases involving federal regulatory authority.
