ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily restored nationwide access to mifepristone by mail, pausing a Fifth Circuit decision that would have reinstated in-person dispensing requirements, in a move advocates say provides critical, if short-term, relief for patients and providers.
On Monday, Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, shared a statement supporting the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. FDA to temporarily restore access to mifepristone via telehealth while the justices continue to consider the case.
Fonteno said she supports the decision to restore access to mifepristone via telehealth, noting it provides “critical, if temporary, relief for patients and providers.”
The U.S. Supreme Court entered an administrative stay granting a one-week pause on an order that reinstates a restriction on pharmacy and mail access to mifepristone, which has been an effective medication used in more than half of U.S. abortions since the 2000s.
On May 4, 2026, the Supreme Court granted a stay that protects the status quo, allowing mifepristone prescriptions to be filled by mail or at a pharmacy while the court considers the stay applications.
Mifepristone, a prescription drug used to end pregnancy, “has been safely used for more than 25 years and is essential to abortion care and miscarriage management in the United States.”
A medical abortion most commonly uses a two-drug regimen that contains mifepristone and misoprostol.
Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration was filed by the state of Louisiana and the anti-rights group Alliance Defending Freedom in October 2025.
Louisiana aimed to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone by requiring in-person dispensing, a move that would affect many patients, including those who need it for miscarriage management.
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, “requests for abortion pills via telemedicine have doubled in the U.S.”
The organization added that the increase in telemedicine for abortions has “made medication abortion a primary target for anti-abortion extremists, who want to push abortion completely out of reach.”
Now, a quarter of all abortions in the United States are provided via telehealth since Roe v. Wade was overturned, with telehealth becoming a lifeline for patients far from clinics.
The FDA asked the court to put the case on hold while it continues its ongoing review of regulations.
The case will proceed on the court’s emergency docket, where the justices will ultimately decide whether to maintain or lift the restrictions.
On Friday, Fonteno stated that “the National Abortion Federation strongly condemns the Fifth Circuit’s decision to reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone nationwide.”
Fonteno said “this ruling is not grounded in science or patient safety,” arguing instead that it is a “politically-driven decision that overrides medical expertise and years of research.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights said that since its approval 25 years ago by the Food and Drug Administration, “more than 7.5 million women in the U.S. have used mifepristone safely – with serious adverse events characterized as ‘exceedingly rare.’”
Fonteno said requiring in-person dispensing “threatens to upend how abortion care is delivered nationwide.”
“Through this litigation,” Fonteno said, “Louisiana seeks to impose its cruel abortion ban across the nation,” including in states that already have legal protections for abortion.
Julia Kaye, a senior staff attorney for the Reproductive Freedom Project of the ACLU, said, “The Supreme Court needs to put an end to this baseless attack on our reproductive freedom, once and for all.”
The National Abortion Federation said it will “continue to advocate to restore full access to medication abortion.”
Although mifepristone may not be accessible via telehealth under future rulings, it “remains available in doctors’ offices, clinics and hospitals.”
The organization also said it will “continue to provide evidence-based abortion care at home for their patients.”
Two manufacturers of mifepristone, GenBioPro and Danco Laboratories, challenged the Fifth Circuit ruling requiring patients to obtain the medication in person at a health center, rather than by mail or at a pharmacy.
Danco Laboratories said the order “injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time sensitive medical decisions.”
Similarly, GenBioPro said the order “has unleashed regulatory chaos.”
However, the Supreme Court’s administrative stay temporarily restores access to mifepristone through the mail.
Access to telehealth is described as “a critical component of holistic reproductive healthcare,” especially for patients in rural areas or those facing financial and logistical barriers.
Receiving medications through telehealth is “often the only way to safely access the care they need.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights said disproportionate harm falls on young people and “other vulnerable people and communities, such as survivors of intimate partner violence and people with disabilities.”
The ACLU highlighted that without telehealth delivery, patients would be forced to travel, sometimes long distances, to pick up a pill, a requirement that leading medical authorities agree has no safety benefit.
Other effective medications for abortions may continue to be available through the mail and pharmacy pickup, but mifepristone remains part of the most common and recommended protocol in the United States.
The Supreme Court’s action “ensures that people can continue to access this essential medication through telehealth while the Court considers the case.”
By allowing access to mifepristone, the Supreme Court is “pausing the Fifth Circuit’s sweeping and dangerous restrictions.”
Still, Fonteno said the “back-and-forth has created confusion and chaos for patients, providers, and health systems nationwide.”
The lower court ruling “disregards the well-established safety and efficacy of the use of mifepristone via telehealth” and allows that “any future restriction will create medically unnecessary barriers to care for patients across the country.”
Justice Samuel Alito issued the administrative stay putting the Fifth Circuit’s order on hold and temporarily restoring access to mifepristone by mail.
After hearing requests from Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, the justices instructed the FDA and Louisiana to respond by 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 7.
The administrative stay expires Monday, May 11, at 5 p.m. EDT.
The stay will remain in effect until 5 p.m. ET on May 11, and the Supreme Court has ordered Louisiana to file its brief by Thursday, May 7, at 5 p.m. ET.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
