Supreme Court Reinstates Access to Abortion Pills—For Now |
The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily reinstated a Food and Drug Administration rule allowing the abortion pill mifepristone to be prescribed via telemedicine and dispensed through the mail.
The order, by Justice Samuel Alito Jr., paused a ruling by the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that sought to block nationwide access to mifepristone by cutting off online providers. The Fifth Circuit ruling, issued Friday, caused providers, advocates, and patients to scramble all weekend to put in place contingency plans to keep abortion medication available. Almost two-thirds of abortions in the US now occur with pills, and nearly 30 percent take place via telemedicine.
Louisiana filed suit against the FDA last fall, claiming that a 2023 rule change by the Biden administration allowing mifepristone to be prescribed by telemedicine was “arbitrary,” “capricious,” and politically motivated. The drug, part of a two-pill regimen that also includes the medication misoprostol, was approved by the FDA in 2000.
Louisiana had asked lower courts to........