Supreme Court Temporarily Preserves Telehealth Access to Mifepristone

Justice Samuel Alito extended an emergency order on Monday allowing mifepristone to be prescribed by mail and via telehealth and preventing the appeals-court restrictions from taking effect until at least Thursday.

The move responds to a May 1 U.S. 5th Circuit ruling that reinstated pre-pandemic in-person dispensing requirements after Louisiana sued to roll back FDA rules on mifepristone.

Mainstream medical groups, the pharmaceutical industry and nearly two dozen Democratic-led states filed briefs urging the court not to limit access, and pharmaceutical companies warned a ruling would upend the drug approval process.

Mifepristone was first approved in 2000, medication abortions accounted for nearly two-thirds of U.S. abortions in 2023, and roughly one quarter of abortions occur via telemedicine, according to the sources.

The Supreme Court will decide whether to allow the 5th Circuit restrictions to take effect as the case proceeds, with the Trump administration declining to file a written brief, according to the sources.