On May 1, 2026, a 5th Circuit Court ruling on the case Louisiana v. FDA temporarily disrupted the mailing of mifepristone, one of two commonly used abortion pills. This decision reflected a political attempt to prevent people from accessing abortion care and does not reflect on the safety of the medication, which has been shown to be safe and effective in more than 100 studies over decades of use.
On May 4, the ruling was paused by the Supreme Court. The administrative stay, issued by Justice Alito, allows more time for the court to figure out how to respond to the previous ruling. Alito’s order extends until May 11th. In the meantime, mailing of mifepristone within the US continues as usual.
This current status does not affect the availability of telehealth abortion (abortion pills by mail), but if the ruling goes into effect on May 11, 2026 it could impact the types of medications that telehealth services send to their patients. For instance, providers located in the United States may send just misoprostol pills with instructions for how to use them. Like mifepristone, misoprostol pills are very safe and effective and have been used for decades for early abortion.
Our research also shows that mifepristone will continue to be available through other services, like international telehealth providers, community networks, and websites that sell pills. Details of these services are included in our state searchable Guide.
We will continue to keep our information up to date as the resources we list adapt to this court ruling. In the meantime, information remains current on our research-backed Guide.
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