Unpacking the Fight over Telehealth Access to Abortion Medication
The justices’ stay keeps telehealth prescriptions legal for now as providers prepare backup protocols and abortion opponents press to overturn the FDA rule.
- On Monday, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a Circuit Court ruling that would have suspended federal rules allowing telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone, preserving access under current FDA regulations until May 11.
- Louisiana officials, including Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill, argue the 2023 telehealth policy undermines state abortion bans, citing $92,000 in Medicaid bills from two women treated for complications in 2025.
- Dr. Angel Foster of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project said providers have contingency plans to pivot from the FDA-approved mifepristone-misoprostol regimen to a misoprostol-only protocol if mifepristone access is restricted.
- According to the Society of Family Planning, 27% of abortions in early 2025 were obtained via telehealth, totaling more than 162,000 cases; the combination regimen is 93% to 99% effective versus 85% to 90% for misoprostol-only.
- The Supreme Court's administrative stay expires May 11, leaving stakeholders awaiting further action; justices could extend the stay, issue a longer-term ruling, or return the case to the Circuit Court.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Ohio abortion rights advocates concerned about health access as US Supreme Court mulls mail access
Mifepristone tablets. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)As the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily holds off a ban on telehealth abortion pill care, Ohio reproductive rights advocates and clinics say the potential loss of that type of abortion access will cause uncertainty and direct impacts to public health and wellbeing. The U.S. Supreme Court, specifically Justice Samuel Alito, ordered a one-week pause on a federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appe…
At the end of April, a law came into force in England that clearly states that women may no longer be prosecuted because of their own abortion. While the basic ban on abortion and regulations for doctors or other third parties remain in force, this no longer applies to the woman concerned herself. Thus, a corresponding criminal offence was committed in the...
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