Supreme Court Temporarily Restores Access to Mail-Order Abortion Pills
The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily restored access to mail-order abortion pills Monday morning, allowing women to continue obtaining mifepristone through telehealth appointments, the mail and pharmacies.
The Court administratively stayed a lower court decision overturning the Biden administration’s efforts to make the abortion drug more widely available following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
In 2023, the Biden administration modified mifepristone’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS), a regulation placed on the drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lessen the risks to women who take it. An estimated 11% of women who abort their child with mifepristone suffer life-threatening complications.
The FDA removed the in-person dispensing requirement, making mifepristone accessible through telehealth appointments, obtainable by mail nationwide, and available at retail pharmacies. The requirement had been in place for over two decades.
In 2025, Louisiana brought a lawsuit challenging the 2023 REMS, arguing the FDA’s justifications for removing the in-person dispensing requirement were based on flawed or nonexistent data.
Additionally, Louisiana documented how the new regulation resulted in numerous illegal abortions in the state. In effect, the 2023 REMS allow women to bypass a pro-life state’s restriction on abortion by ordering mifepristone online, and having it delivered through the mail.
Louisiana argued the 2023 REMS also made the abortion pill ripe for abuse. Look no further than the case of Rosalie Markezich, a Louisiana woman who was forced by her then boyfriend to take abortion drugs he ordered online from a doctor in California. Markezich joined Louisiana’s lawsuit against the FDA.
On May 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with Louisiana and stayed the 2023 REMS.
Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, joined by Judges Leslie Southwick and Kurt Engelhardt, noted that the FDA “conceded it had failed to adequately study whether remotely prescribing mifepristone is safe.”
Louisiana made “a strong showing that the 2023 REMS was not ‘reasonable’ or ‘reasonably explained,’” the court said.
The Fifth Circuit added,
Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has put the Fifth Circuit’s decision on hold – for now. The seven-day administrative stay gives the Supreme Court more time to consider the case.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which joined Louisiana in challenging the FDA’s regulation, issued a statement following the Court’s decision.
“This is NOT a reversal of Friday’s decision. Rather, it’s the run-of-the-mill pause that the Justices typically use to consider the issues raised in an emergency application,” ADF said.
“We respect the Court’s desire to have time to consider the issues and will continue our fight to uphold this victory that protects women and babies across the country from FDA’s unlawful and destructive mail-order abortion-drug scheme.”
The Supreme Court’s administrative stay expires on Monday, May 11. We’ll likely know more about where this case is headed by then. The Daily Citizen will keep you updated.
The case is Danco Laboratories v. Louisiana.
At Focus on the Family, we have been working to turn the cultural tide and save mothers and babies from abortion for years. Since beginning the Option Ultrasound Program in 2004, Focus has helped save over half a million lives. Just $60 will help save a life through Option Ultrasound. Will you partner with us to save lives from abortion?
If you are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy and want to learn more about your options, you can visit My Choice Network.
Related articles and resources:
Dealing With Unplanned Pregnancy
Become an Option Ultrasound Life Advocate
New Insights on the Dangers of the Abortion Pill
Overcoming Abortion and Becoming a Force for Life
Biden Administration Endangered Women With Abortion Pill Change, Research Finds
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