Supreme Court hits brakes on court ruling that blocked abortion pill distribution by mail

The U.S. Supreme Court on May 4 temporarily blocked an appeals court ruling that sought to pause a federal policy permitting mifepristone, sometimes called the abortion pill, to be dispensed through the mail.

An administrative stay issued by Justice Samuel Alito blocked a May 1 temporary injunction issued by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals until at least 5 p.m. on May 11 EDT.

Alito directed the state of Louisiana to respond by May 7.

The stay in effect restores permission for the drug's distribution by mail.

Previously, the 5th Circuit had granted May 1 Louisiana's request to temporarily pause the Food and Drug Administration’s policy permitting mifepristone — a drug commonly, but not exclusively, used for abortion up to ten weeks' gestation — to be mailed into the state despite its own laws restricting abortion.

Danco Laboratories, one of the pharmaceutical companies that manufactures the drug, promptly appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to block that injunction.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, alongside Rosalie Markezich, who said she was coerced into taking abortifacient drugs by her then-boyfriend, sued the FDA over a Biden administration policy permitting mifepristone to be distributed by mail. The suit contends the policy enabled Markezich’s former partner to acquire the drug from a California doctor, whom Markezich says never spoke with her, and then coerced her into taking it.

However, the Trump administration has thus far left that regulation in place despite opposition from pro-life groups, and has sought to block state challenges to mifepristone, such as Louisiana's.

Prior to the appellate ruling, a federal judge on April 7 had granted the Trump administration's request to pause Louisiana’s lawsuit challenging the FDA’s approval of mifepristone pending the FDA's promised safety review, indicating the state could continue its challenge after that review. However, the status and timeline of the FDA’s review are still unclear.