By Zachary Stieber
Contributing Writer
The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily restored widespread access to an abortion drug called mifepristone, staying a lower court ruling that had blocked it from being sent by mail.
Justice Samuel Alito ordered that the lower court ruling be stayed until 5 p.m. on May 11.
The stay is in place as the nation’s highest court considers the case. Another order will come at a later date.
Danco Laboratories, which makes mifepristone, had requested the stay after a federal appeals court blocked mail delivery of mifepristone while federal regulators study the safety and effectiveness of the drug.
Mifepristone has long been available to women after consulting with doctors. In 2023, federal authorities enabled access via mail.
A lawyer for Danco did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Supreme Court’s move, nor did the Louisiana attorney general’s office.
Alito directed Louisiana and other states — which alleged in a 2024 lawsuit that the removal of the in-person dispensing requirement was illegal because the Food and Drug Administration did not properly consider safety risks — to respond to Danco’s request on or before the evening of May 7.
A federal judge in April ruled in favor of the government, allowing mifepristone to continue to be ordered by mail. The judge also said that the FDA must complete a safety review of mifepristone that officials have said is ongoing.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled on May 1 that mifepristone could not be shipped because the FDA “conceded it had failed to adequately study whether remotely prescribing mifepristone is safe.”
Prescription by mail, the appeals court panel said, could not take place until the FDA ensured mifepristone was safe and effective. It entered a stay of the federal judge’s order, pending the outcome of an appeal.
