Abortion Pill Access Is in Limbo. Here’s What’s at Stake—and Your Options. |
The Supreme Court temporarily restored access to the abortion drug mifepristone when dispensed at pharmacies and sent by mail on May 4, 2026 as it considers a lower-court decision in Louisiana’s fight against abortion pills.
The justices were asked to weigh in after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 1 granted Louisiana’s request to block a 2023 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that allows mifepristone to be provided by pharmacies and via telehealth. For several days, pregnant people were unable to obtain mifepristone without an in-person doctor’s visit.
Previously, they had been able to get abortion medications through telehealth—including in states with abortion bans.
Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro—the two pharmaceutical companies that manufacture mifepristone—filed emergency petitions with the Court on May 2 asking the justices to block the Fifth Circuit’s ruling.
Today’s order means patients can still get mifepristone by mail or at a pharmacy—for now. Louisiana must respond to the pharma companies’ emergency petitions by May 7. Justice Samuel Alito, who issued the week-long stay, gave the Court a week to consider the parties’ filings, setting a deadline of May 11 at 5 p.m.
The Court’s next steps could fundamentally alter the national abortion access landscape—and upend how some patients obtain medication abortion care. Leaving the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the 2023 FDA rule in place would go further than the Court’s........