Justices Keep Access to Mifepristone in Place for Now

The Supreme Court on Thursday left nationwide access to the abortion medication mifepristone in place while a legal challenge over the drug progresses. In an unsigned order, the court indefinitely extended a pause on new limits that had been imposed by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which would have required patients to see a provider in person to obtain the pill. That means mifepristone can continue to be prescribed via telehealth and sent through the mail, methods that now account for more than 60% of abortions in the US, Axios reports. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.

Abortion rights groups welcomed the stay while stressing that it is temporary. "The Supreme Court just did the bare minimum, but this ruling is a relief for patients who can continue to get the care they need," Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said. The Supreme Court declined to immediately take up the core issues in the case, sending it back to the 5th Circuit, but the dispute over mifepristone is widely expected to return to the justices. Alito had issued earlier stays, as well. The ruling Thursday came in a case brought by Louisiana and other challengers to Biden administration rules that broadened access to the drug. Thomas, in his dissent, described the sale of mifepristone as a "criminal enterprise," per the Guardian.