Supreme Court asked to keep abortion drug mifepristone available by mail

May 2, 2026Updated May 3, 2026, 1:10 p.m. ETWASHINGTON – Two years after the Supreme Court tossed out a challenge to the widely used abortion drug mifepristone, the justices must again decide whether access should be restricted.In emergency appeals filed May 2, drug makers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro asked the court to immediately pause a lower court ruling limiting access.“The Supreme Court must reject this unfounded and baseless attack on an essential medication," GenBioPro CEO Evan Masingill said in a statement.The conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 1 temporarily reinstated a Food and Drug Administration requirement that doctors prescribe the drug only after an in-person exam. The three-judge panel did so in response to a challenge from Louisiana to the elimination of that requirement by the Biden administration.'Nearly 1,000 illegal abortions' per monthLouisiana argues that allowing the drug to be dispensed through the mail ignores the threat of complications from mifepristone, such as sepsis and hemorrhaging. The state also says mailed delivery of the drug allows women to get around abortion bans.The appeals court agreed that the looser rule “facilitates nearly 1,000 illegal abortions in Louisiana per month.”Multiple Republican-led states are trying to make it harder for