The nation’s highest court has prolonged a temporary freeze on a lower court decision that would have restricted how the abortion medication mifepristone can be obtained by patients across the country.
Justice Samuel Alito announced Monday that the hold will remain in place until May 14, allowing the medication to continue being delivered by mail while the court weighs its next steps.
The Supreme Court is reviewing appeals from two drug manufacturers seeking to overturn a May 1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. That ruling would have brought back an older rule requiring patients to meet with a healthcare provider face-to-face before receiving mifepristone.
The appeals court had blocked a 2023 Food and Drug Administration regulation implemented during former President Joe Biden’s administration that allowed the medication to be prescribed via telemedicine and sent through the mail.
Pharmaceutical companies Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro challenged the 5th Circuit’s restrictions on mifepristone access. The Supreme Court initially stepped in on May 4 with a temporary hold to allow more time for deliberation.
Medical abortion procedures, which typically involve a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, represent approximately two-thirds of all abortions performed in the United States. Any limitations on how these medications are distributed could substantially impact access across the nation.
This legal battle brings the divisive abortion issue before the Supreme Court again as November’s congressional elections approach and President Donald Trump’s Republican allies work to maintain their congressional majority.
In 2024, the Supreme Court unanimously turned down an earlier effort by anti-abortion organizations and physicians to reverse FDA policies that had made the drug more accessible.
These ongoing legal disputes stem from the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which had established nationwide abortion rights. Following that reversal, 13 states have implemented nearly complete abortion prohibitions, while several others have imposed significant restrictions.
Louisiana filed suit against the Food and Drug Administration in 2025, arguing that the 2023 rule removing in-person dispensing requirements violated federal law and had led to a surge in medication abortions despite the state’s comprehensive abortion ban.
