Supreme Court Rules in favor of reinstating access to abortion Pill Via Mail

Ann E. Marimow reports today for The New York Times the Supreme Court has ruled access to the abortion pill via mail be reinstated, at least temporarily. The pill, known as mifepristone, had been obtainable only by visiting an in-person doctor’s office.

“The Supreme Court on Monday restored nationwide access to a widely used abortion medication in a temporary order that will, for now, allow women to once again obtain the pill mifepristone by mail,” Marimow wrote. “In a brief order, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. paused a lower-court ruling from Friday that had prevented abortion providers from prescribing the pills by telemedicine and shipping them to patients, causing confusion for providers and patients. The one-sentence order imposes a pause until at least May 11. He requested that the parties file briefs by Thursday, and then the full court will determine how to proceed.”

Louisiana sued the Food and Drug Administration to restrict access to mifepristone because “the availability of the medication by mail has allowed abortions to continue in the state despite its near-total ban,” according to Marimow. The drug accounts for almost two-thirds of all abortions in the United States, the administration of which is a two-drug process given during the first three months, or 12 weeks, of pregnancy.

This news is obviously first and foremost a women’s health issue—abortion is a form of healthcare—but it’s also very much an accessibility issue in the disability sense. Like ordering from Amazon or UberEats, for instance, that a woman with disabilities could plausibly gain access to their abortion medication through the mail is, on its own merit, an eminently more accessible way to get it. Maybe getting to a doctor’s office is logistically and/or medically fraught. Maybe their condition(s) means they’re primarily homebound. Maybe there’s a mental health issue that makes leaving one’s house difficult if not impossible. Whatever the reason(s), the salient point is simply that home delivery of medication—mifepristone or not—is, at its core, all about greater accessibility. It should go without saying, especially in modern times, but here we are.

Relatedly, the Center for Reproductive Rights put out a press release last Friday wherein the nonprofit organization shared news on the aforementioned Fifth Circuit ruling limiting access to mifepristone. The Center noted requests for the abortion pill via telehealth services has “doubled” since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, adding the now-paused ruling “jeopardizes that lifeline.”

“Telehealth has been the last bridge to care for many seeking abortion, which is precisely why Louisiana officials want it banned,” Nancy Northup, president and chief executive officer of the Center, said in a statement included with the announcement. “This isn’t about science—it’s about making abortion as difficult, expensive, and unreachable as possible. Telehealth has transformed healthcare. Selectively stripping that away from abortion patients is a political blockade.”