The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) restored access to the abortion pill, Mifepristone, provisionally halting a lower court decision that would have limited its availability nationwide.
According to NBC News, Justice Samuel Alito, one of the conservative judges in the panel, signed two brief orders ruling that the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision would remain on hold until at least May 11, 2026.
Justice Alito’s orders resumes the process for women seeking abortions to receive the pill through the mail or at pharmacies without having to visit a doctor in person.
According to The Associated Press (AP), the rules Justice Alito restored had been in effect for several years until the New Orleans Appeals Court restricted access on May 1, 2026. Justice Alito issued the order due to his responsibility of handling emergency issues arising from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court, which covers New Orleans, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
The provisional pause gives SCOTUS time to consider the next steps in the case as it weighs separate emergency filings by pharmaceutical companies, Danco and GenBioPro, NBC News reported.
Most of the abortions in the U.S. are obtained via medications – typically a combination of mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol, AP News states.
Nationwide access to these drugs has circumvented the impact of abortion bans sought after by Republican-led states following the 2022 SCOTUS ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the media outlet adds.
In an effort to enforce the ban, the state of Louisiana sued to restrict access to Mifepristone, arguing that its availability undermines its ban on abortions.
“Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’” Judge Kyle Duncan of the Court of Appeals states in the obstructed ruling, agreeing with the state of Louisiana’s stance.
"While mifepristone access returns to where it was on Friday morning, the whiplash and chaos that patients and providers are navigating have already had real consequences for real peoples’ lives and futures," President of abortion rights group Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Alexis McGill Johnson, said in a statement, welcoming Justice Alito’s decision.
