Overview
- Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay Monday that keeps mail, pharmacy and telehealth access in place through 5 p.m. ET May 11 and orders Louisiana to respond by May 7.
- The stay pauses a Friday Fifth Circuit order that said the FDA’s 2023 removal of in-person dispensing was likely unlawful and sought to halt nationwide prescribing by telemedicine and shipment by mail.
- Drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro asked the Court for emergency relief over the weekend, and providers say the pause averts immediate disruptions for patients who rely on remote care.
- Louisiana’s lawsuit argues the FDA acted arbitrarily in 2023 and that mail-order access thwarts the state’s abortion ban and drives Medicaid costs, while the FDA continues an internal review of the drug’s safety rules.
- Medication abortion now accounts for most U.S. abortions and about one in four clinician-provided abortions in early 2025 used telehealth, so any long-term rollback could force more travel, delays and shifts to misoprostol-only regimens.