While a lawsuit continues, patients will be able to pick up mifepristone at their local pharmacy or have it delivered via mail after a telehealth visit

5.14.2026 (PRESS RELEASE) — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order allowing people to continue getting the abortion pill mifepristone through telemedicine while a lawsuit surrounding the medication proceeds. Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency request from the state of Louisiana forcing people to get mifepristone in person at a clinic – which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t required since 2021. Last week, the Supreme Court paused that ruling. The case will now be sent back to the Fifth Circuit for full briefing and arguments. The case will likely make its way back to the Supreme Court after that, when the Court will make a final ruling on the merits.

“This isn’t a matter of convenience—for patients living hundreds of miles from the nearest clinic, it’s the difference between getting an abortion or not. That’s exactly why anti-abortion activists want to ban this lifeline nationwide,” said Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Today’s ruling buys time, but no peace of mind. Mifepristone access remains highly at risk as this case moves forward and the Trump administration conducts a politically motivated review of this pill with the hardly disguised aim of making it harder to get.”

Louisiana v. FDA is one of several court cases brought by states with abortion bans that seek to restrict access to mifepristone nationwide. Ongoing cases in Texas and Missouri could go even further, including by directing the FDA to withdraw its approval of mifepristone altogether.

Medication abortion—in the U.S., most commonly a two-drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol—accounts for more than 60% of abortions in the U.S. each year. A quarter of all abortions in the U.S. are now provided via telehealth—a two-fold increase since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Telehealth has been a lifeline, particularly for patients that live far away from abortion clinics, including people in rural areas where the nearest provider could be hours away.  

Hundreds of studies confirm mifepristone’s safety, and more than 7.5 million Americans have used the pill for abortion and miscarriage care since it was approved by the FDA in 2000. Research shows mifepristone is just as safe and effective when provided via telehealth as it is in a clinic.  

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