⁨Supreme Court Issues Major Decision On Abortion Pill, Deals Blow To Pro-Life Fight

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed mail orders of the abortion drug mifepristone to continue, handing a major defeat for the pro-life movement while litigation over the pill continues.   

In an emergency order, the court temporarily blocked a federal appeals court ruling that struck down a Biden-era policy that allowed the abortion drug mifepristone to be prescribed online and shipped by mail. 

The unsigned order provided no legal explanation. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. 

“The Court’s unreasoned order granting stays in this case is remarkable,” Justice Alito wrote. “What is at stake is the perpetration of a scheme to undermine our decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which restored the right of each State to decide how to regulate abortions within its borders.”

Justice Thomas went further, describing the mail distribution system for mifepristone as a “criminal enterprise.”

“Applicants are not entitled to a stay of an adverse court order based on lost profits from their criminal enterprise,” he concluded. “They cannot, in any legally relevant sense, be irreparably harmed by a court order that makes it more difficult for them to commit crimes.”

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration expanded nationwide access to chemical abortion. Under rules finalized in 2023, women could obtain mifepristone through telehealth appointments without an in-person doctor visit. 

The majority of abortions in the U.S. are obtained through medications, usually a combination of mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol, according to the Associated Press. 

Louisiana challenged the Biden-era policy under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing the FDA relied on flawed or nonexistent data while eliminating safety protocols.

The Daily Wire previously reported that the FDA acknowledged it had not adequately studied the safety of remote dispensing and is still conducting a review, with no clear timeline for completion.

The three-judge 5th Circuit panel held that the regulation, which has continued under the Trump administration, was likely unlawful. 

“Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban,” the federal appeals court wrote, emphasizing that such harm cannot be undone.

Manufacturers of the abortion drug quickly filed emergency appeals asking the Supreme Court to intervene.

Acting alone, Justice Samuel Alito entered and then extended an administrative stay of the Fifth Circuit ruling, which is a short-term, procedural order that freezes legal proceedings so the full court has time to weigh the issue.

On Thursday, a majority of the justices appeared to agree with the abortion manufacturers, overturning the block in a significant setback for pro-life advocates as litigation drags on.

President Donald Trump’s embattled FDA commissioner Marty Makary resigned on Tuesday following intense criticism from pro-life advocates over his handling of mifepristone and the speed of the agency’s review of the abortion drug’s safety.