The US Supreme Court on Thursday extended access to abortion pill Mifepristone via telehealth and mail… for now.
Last week, Justice Samuel Alito granted temporary relief after Mifepristone’s maker, Danco Laboratories and the generic version’s manufacturer, GenBioPro, filed a petition.
This week, Justice Alito extended access to Mifepristone until at least today.
On Thursday, the high court allowed women to access Mifepristone without an in-person visit to a doctor, while the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on the merits of the case.
The federal appeals court is not in a rush to rule on the merits of this case. It could take several months or even a year.
Conservative Justices Alito and Thomas dissented.
“Applicants are manufacturers and distributors of Mifepristone, a drug that is primarily designed to cause abortion. They complain that the Fifth Circuit’s order would reduce profits they derive from selling Mifepristone. I would deny their applications because they have not satisfied their burden for securing interim relief,” Justice Thomas wrote in his dissent.
The AP reported:
The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved women’s access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion, rejecting lower-court restrictions while a lawsuit continues.
The court’s order allows women seeking abortions to continue obtaining the drug, mifepristone, at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor. Access is likely to remain uninterrupted at least until into next year as the case plays out, including a potential appeal to the high court.
The justices granted emergency requests from makers of mifepristone, who are appealing a federal appeals court ruling that would require women to see a doctor in person and halt delivery of mifepristone through the mail. The federal Food and Drug Administration, which first approved mifepristone for use in abortion in 2000, stopped requiring in-person visits five years ago.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals previously blocked nationwide access to abortion pill prescriptions via telehealth and mail.
A three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that abortion pills such as Mifepristone must be distributed in person.
Louisiana filed the lawsuit after the FDA allowed Mifepristone to be distributed via telehealth and mail during the Covid pandemic.
In 2023, the ‘Covid’ change to how abortion pills were distributed became permanent.
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