Supreme Court Restores Access To Abortion Pill By Mail
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals nationwide ban on mail-order abortion pills, the main mode of pregnancy termination in the U.S.
SCOTUS has suspended at least until May 11 enforcement of the May 1 appeals court ruling in a case initiated in Louisiana, where women have continued to secure abortions through mifepristone prescribed in online appointments and mailed from out-of-state providers.
Similarly in other states that have limited or completely outlawed abortions, women have continued to abort their babies by using mifepristone prescribed online and mailed from other states.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito, who handles emergency cases from the district, issued the stay May 4th in response to requests from mifepristone manufacturers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro.
“It is ordered that the May 1, 2026 order of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, case No. 26-30203, is hereby administratively stayed until 5 p.m. (EDT) on Monday, May 11, 2026,” Alito wrote. “It is further ordered that a response to the application be filed on or before Thursday, May 7, 2026, by 5 p.m. (EDT).”
The order pauses the Fifth Circuit ruling in State of Louisiana v. U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which returned prescription rules for mifepristone to pre-2023 limitations, which required in-office doctor visits.
In 2023, prescription guidelines were loosened to allow mifepristone prescriptions through virtual office visits and mail order. Nearly two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. in 2023 were facilitated through medication, the Guttmacher Institute said in 2024, up from 53 percent of abortions in 2020.
Miles Mullin, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission executive vice president, lamented the setback and urged Southern Baptists to pray for protections for preborn life.
“The Supreme Court’s administrative pause of the order preventing mail-order abortion pills is certainly disheartening, as it means more women will be harmed and more babies will be lost across this nation, for at least another week,” Mullin told Baptist Press. “Yet, we remain hopeful that the constitutional arguments raised will prevail so that more babies will be saved as our nation’s laws will more closely align with the truth of God’s Word regarding the sanctity of human life.
“To that end, we implore Southern Baptists to join us in praying for this case, for our partners at Alliance Defending Freedom, and for the justices as they review the arguments presented in Louisiana’s case. Pray that the Lord would prompt the justices to grant favorable rulings as we continue to contend for precious pre-born lives.”
Southern Baptists have advocated nationally and in various states for discontinuance of mifepristone, citing biblical support for life from conception, and citing cases of the pill causing dangerous side-effects in women who ingest the medication.
Among most recent advocacy in Louisiana, messengers to the 2025 Louisiana Baptist Convention annual meeting in November 2025 urged advocacy against mifepristone in “Resolution 3: On the exit of Planned Parenthood from Louisiana.”
“We strongly urge our churches and lawmakers to continue the fight to stop the shipping of the outlawed abortion pill into our state, which will effectively end all secret illegal abortions in Louisiana,” messengers said among other resolved clauses.
LBC Executive Director Steve Horn, who joined other signatories in a July 2025 letter urging President Donald Trump to end mail-order prescriptions of mifepristone, called the SCOTUS stay “disheartening.” But he told Baptist Press that Louisiana Baptists will continue to fight mifepristone use.
“With all abortion clinics closed in Louisiana, mail-order abortifacients have created an illegal way for abortions to continue in Louisiana,” Horn said. “The Louisiana Legislature has spoken on this issue on behalf of all Louisiana that we do not want any abortions to occur in our state. We ought to be able to govern ourselves in Louisiana without the interference from those in other states mailing abortifacients into our state.”
This article was originally published at Baptist Press.
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.