{"id":210765,"date":"2026-05-15T16:55:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/supreme-court-allows-abortion-pill-to-remain-available-by-mail-nationwide-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T16:55:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T16:55:59","slug":"supreme-court-allows-abortion-pill-to-remain-available-by-mail-nationwide-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/supreme-court-allows-abortion-pill-to-remain-available-by-mail-nationwide-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court allows abortion pill to remain available by mail nationwide – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

news Alerts
There are no new alerts at this time
WASHINGTON \u2014 The Supreme Court<\/a> ensured Thursday that the abortion pill<\/a> mifepristone can continue to be available by mail without an in-person appointment with a clinician.
Subscribe to read this story ad-free
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
A ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 1 had imperiled widespread access to the pill. Now, the Supreme Court has granted emergency requests brought by drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro seeking to block that ruling.
The decision<\/a>, a loss for the state of Louisiana, ensures there will not be any disruption to the availability of the drug as litigation continues. On May 4, in an order issued by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, the court had provisionally put the appeals court ruling on hold<\/a> while the justices considered their next steps.
Two conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, dissented.
Thomas, noting that mailing mifepristone is illegal in Louisiana, took aim at the drugmakers, saying that they were not entitled to block a court order \u201cbased on lost profits from their criminal enterprise.\u201d
In a separate opinion, Alito said the Biden\u2019s administration\u2019s decision to make mifepristone available by mail in 2023 was an attempt to \u201cundermine\u201d the court\u2019s 2022 ruling that overturned abortion rights landmark Roe v. Wade.
\u201cLouisiana\u2019s efforts have been thwarted by certain medical providers, private organizations, and states that abhor laws like Louisiana\u2019s and seek to undermine their enforcement,\u201d Alito added.
Abortion-rights advocates welcomed the decision.
\u201cThe Supreme Court just did the bare minimum, but this ruling is a relief for patients who can continue to get the care they need. We know this is just one in a long line of attacks on our rights and our care,\u201d Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement.
The underlying case involves Louisiana\u2019s challenge to the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s decision during the Biden administration to allow mifepristone to be administered without in-person appointments, allowing access to the drug even in states where abortion is banned.
Anti-abortion groups have been pushing to reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement, alleging that taking mifepristone at home can be dangerous, although studies have found it to be safe and effective<\/a>.
In asking the Supreme Court not to intervene, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, wrote in court papers that even though abortion is almost totally banned in the state, up to 1,000 abortions a month are taking place because of mifepristone pills being mailed to women there.
Murrill bashed the court\u2019s ruling in a statement Thursday evening.
\u201cIt\u2019s shocking that the Supreme Court would block this common-sense return to medically ethical practices and oversight,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will keep fighting.\u201d
Erin Hawley, an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is litigating the case alongside the state of Louisiana, said in a statement Thursday\u2019s ruling, \u201cIt\u2019s high time the Biden FDA be held accountable for the destruction it has caused with this high-risk drug.\u201d
\u201cTogether with Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill\u2019s office, we look forward to litigating our appeal at the 5th Circuit to protect mothers and their children,\u201d Hawley added.
Mifepristone is used as part of a two-drug FDA-approved regimen that is now the most common form of abortion in the U.S. It is also used in miscarriage care.
The companies argued that Louisiana did not have standing, citing the Supreme Court\u2019s 2024 decision that rejected a similar challenge<\/a> to the FDA\u2019s approvals of mifepristone on the grounds that the plaintiffs could not show they had suffered any injury.
Danco, which makes Mifeprex, the brand-name version of mifepristone, <\/strong>said in a statement that it is \u201cpleased that a safe and effective drug Americans depend on will continue to be available while this litigation proceeds.\u201d
Evan Masingil, CEO of GenBioPro, which markets the generic version of the pill, said the company is \u201ccommitted to providing our evidence-based, essential medication to all who need it.\u201d
In an unusual move, the Trump administration did not file a brief at the Supreme Court even though the FDA is technically a defendant in the case.
The government did file in the appeals court case, urging the court to rule in favor of the drug companies on the basis that Louisiana did not have legal standing to bring its claims.
The FDA is reviewing the safety protocols for mifepristone, meaning availability by mail could still be overturned. Louisiana\u2019s lawsuit \u201cnot only would disrupt FDA\u2019s ongoing review, and usurp FDA\u2019s scientific role, but would also threaten chaos,\u201d the Justice Department told the appeals court.
Following the Supreme Court decision, the FDA said on X<\/a> that it will \u201cpress forward to complete its science-based safety review\u201d of the pill.
Abortion is effectively banned altogether in 13 states, while several others have tight restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute<\/a>, a research group that backs abortion rights.
Lawrence Hurley is a senior Supreme Court reporter for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeWASHINGTON \u2014 The Supreme Court ensured Thursday that the abortion pill mifepristone can continue to be available by mail without an in-person appointment with a clinician.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.A ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-210765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}