The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a federal appeals court ruling in Louisiana that would have stopped doctors from prescribing the abortion pill mifepristone over the phone and sending it through the mail. This means patients can still access the pill via telehealth while the legal process continues in lower courts. The case may eventually return to the Supreme Court for a final decision. It’s the second time this month the Supreme Court has stepped in to prevent Louisiana from restricting access to mifepristone. On May 4, three days after a lower court tried to immediately halt access to the pill, the Supreme Court issued a temporary order allowing telehealth services to continue while they review an emergency request from the pill’s manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro. Two Supreme Court justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, disagreed with the decision. Alito argued that the latest order goes against the court’s 2022 decision, which gave states the right to regulate abortions within their own borders. Meanwhile, supporters of abortion rights praised the decision but warned that the fight isn’t over. Angel Foster, co-founder of The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, said in a statement, “The ban on mifepristone through telemedicine was never about safety. It was about controlling people’s bodies and lives. However, we know this temporary relief is just that—temporary. Lawmakers have made it clear they will keep trying to block access to medication abortion by any means possible.” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who has led the effort to stop telehealth access to the pill, claims that about 1,000 illegal abortions occur each month in Louisiana. She stated, “It’s shocking that the Supreme Court would block this common-sense return to medically ethical practices and oversight. The Department of Justice did not defend Big Pharma, which is profiting from the illegal and unethical distribution of abortion pills. We will keep fighting.” The FDA originally lifted the requirement for in-person visits to receive mifepristone in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, despite objections from anti-abortion groups who argued that taking the pill at home was unsafe. In April 2023, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana attempted to ban the pill from being sent by mail and reduced the time frame for its use during pregnancy from 10 weeks to 7 weeks. This decision followed the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion. On May 1, the Fifth Circuit temporarily blocked online distribution of mifepristone until the case is resolved. The lawsuit aimed to reinstate a previous FDA rule requiring mifepristone to be prescribed only after an in-person medical visit. After the Supreme Court granted a temporary stay last week, lawmakers, industry leaders, and former regulators spoke out in defense of mifepristone’s availability. Nine former FDA commissioners submitted a legal brief arguing that the appeals court’s decision would “disrupt the FDA’s gold-standard, science-based drug approval process” and warned that it “opens the door for similar challenges to other science-based drug regulations.” Mifepristone, approved by the FDA in 2000, works by blocking the hormone progesterone, which is necessary for a pregnancy to continue. It is often used with another medication called misoprostol, which helps induce contractions. In 2023, mifepristone accounted for 63% of all abortions in the U.S., up from 53% in 2020. Around 25% of abortions in the U.S. in 2024 were performed using telehealth services.