politics
May 4, 2026
Alito halts appeals court ruling blocking mail-order abortion pills
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito temporarily blocked on Monday an appeals court’s ruling that barred abortion pills from being sold online and transported to patients via mail.
TL;DR
- Justice Samuel Alito temporarily blocked an appeals court ruling that restricted abortion pill access.
- The ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had reinstated an in-person screening requirement for mifepristone.
- The stay allows abortion pills to continue being sold online and mailed to patients until May 11.
- The lawsuit challenges the FDA's 2023 rule change that removed the in-person screening requirement.
- The 5th Circuit's ruling stated the FDA's action effectively overrode Louisiana's law banning elective abortions.
- Drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro filed emergency petitions to the Supreme Court after the ruling.
- The Supreme Court had previously upheld the FDA's rule allowing mifepristone to be prescribed online in a 2024 case.