Supreme Court restores abortion pill access by mail as litigation on the matter continues

The Supreme Court on Monday granted a temporary pause to an appeals court ruling that temporarily paused the telehealth provision and mailing of the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide.

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The court granted an administrative stay until May 11 at 5 p.m. E.T. to the ruling handed down by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana on Friday that temporarily barred providers from virtually prescribing and mailing mifepristone, one of the two pills typically used in a medication abortion, while the case over its broader availability continues to play out.

In a brief, 1-page order, Justice Samuel Alito — the justice assigned to emergency requests out of the 5th Circuit — also ordered Louisiana to file a response to the emergency request by Thursday at 5 p.m. E.T.

The temporary action, known as an administrative stay, doesn’t prevent the court from reaching a different outcome when all the justices weigh in, but it halts the lower court ruling for now.