U.S. Supreme Court allows access to mifepristone by mail—for now
The nation’s top court extended a stay on a lower court order banning telemedicine access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions—but the order sets up a longer legal fight
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to allow access by mail to the abortion drug mifepristone for now. The order effectively extends a previous stay issued by the Court on a lower court ruling that would have made it illegal nationwide to mail mifepristone. Only Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.
At the heart of the case is a disagreement over Louisiana state law and virtual abortion access. Louisiana filed a suit in 2025 against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, objecting to the use of mail-order mifepristone—something the FDA first allowed during the COVID pandemic—on the grounds that the drug carries potential risks and that prescriptions issued by telehealth providers and mailed into the state undermine its abortion ban. Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Louisiana, prompting two companies that make the abortion pill to ask the Supreme Court to step in. The lower court’s ruing, had it gone into effect, would have required those seeking mifepristone to access the medication in person.
Mifepristone was approved by the FDA in 2000. It is typically used to induce abortion, often in combination with another drug called misoprostol, for pregnancies up to 10 weeks of gestation. The overwhelming evidence suggests the drug is safe to use, however the Trump administration has opened a review into its safety and efficacy that some experts say the findings are likely to be flawed at best, and an exercise in data cherry-picking to support the administration’s views at worse.
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Editor’s Note (5/14/26): This is a developing story and may be updated.
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