Supreme Court restores access to abortion pill

The Supreme Court temporarily restored mail-order prescribing of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone Monday, pausing an appeals court decision that dramatically limited access to the pills.Why it matters: The stay of at least one week issued by Justice Samuel Alito doesn't settle an underlying legal challenge to rules for dispensing the drug that could make abortion access a top-tier issue heading into the midterms.But it's likely to reduce confusion among pharmacies, telehealth firms and providers over what's allowed, even in states where abortion is legal.Driving the news: The stay was in response to requests from drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro to restore access to mifepristone via teleprescribing and the mails.Responses from parties in the underlying case have until Thursday to file responses. The order was in response to a 5th Circuit ruling on Friday, which sided with Louisiana in a case challenging Biden administration rules that expanded access to mifepristone.Louisiana argued the federal rules undermined its laws protecting unborn human life and caused it to spend Medicaid funds on emergency care for women harmed by mifepristone.Abortion opponents have targeted the teleprescribing of abortion pills since Roe v. Wade was overturned and pressed the Trump administration to restore in-person dispensing requirements.In the first half of 2025, about 1 in 4 clinician-provided abortions in the U.S. came through telehealth. The majority used a combination of mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol.The Food and Drug Administration is conducting a safety review of mifepristone. Last fall, the agency approved a new generic version of mifepristone, angering abortion foes. This story has been updated with additional reporting

The Supreme Court temporarily restored mail-order prescribing of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone Monday, pausing an appeals court decision that dramatically limited access to the pills.Why it matters: The stay of at least one week issued by Justice Samuel Alito doesn't settle an underlying legal challenge to rules for dispensing the drug that could…

The Supreme Court temporarily restored mail-order prescribing of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone Monday, pausing an appeals court decision that dramatically limited access to the pills.Why it matters: The stay of at least one week issued by Justice Samuel Alito doesn't settle an underlying legal challenge to rules for dispensing the drug that could make abortion access a top-tier issue heading into the midterms.But it's likely to reduce confusion among pharmacies, telehealth firms and providers over what's allowed, even in states where abortion is…