On Monday, May 4, 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court restored access to the abortion pill mifepristone. The order temporarily allows women to obtain the pill at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor. The ruling blocked a lower-court ruling from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that requires that the abortion pill be only distributed in person.
The lower court ruling states: “Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person.’”
Surveys have found that the majority of abortions in the U.S. are provided via pills and that about 1 in 4 abortions nationally are prescribed via telehealth. Some Democratic-led states have laws that seek to protect providers who prescribe via telehealth to patients in places with bans.
The Supreme Court ruling will remain in effect for a week while both sides respond and the high court considers the issue more fully.
More details can be found here.