The Supreme Court punted on abortion pill access — the issue is far from over

In the four years since the Supreme Court decided Dobbs, cases involving abortion have come before it repeatedly. Each time, the court has ducked the substantive issues at the heart of each case.

That is true with the most recent litigation concerning Food and Drug Administration rules allowing mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in medication abortion, to be prescribed via telehealth and mail. On May 14, the court punted the question back to the lower courts, letting the FDA rule continue — at least for now.

In Dobbs, the court claimed that the controversial matter of abortion would be left to the states. Indeed, Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence declared that the decision was “scrupulously neutral.” But as scholars and the Dobbs dissenters warned, “abortion wars” would follow. Indeed, they have. Abortion-ban states are trying to impose their will on the nation, other states are attempting to ensure their residents have access to abortion and the federal government remains involved.

In the latest battle, Louisiana claimed that it had been damaged by the FDA’s rules. Both the district court and Fifth Circuit found that Louisiana was likely to prevail. The Fifth Circuit was so confident the FDA had no authority to issue the telehealth regulation that it suspended the regulation.

Mifepristone’s manufacturers appealed to the Supreme Court and it ultimately kept the FDA’s regulation in effect, meaning that mifepristone is still available for prescription via telehealth.   

Ultimately, this case will affect abortion access. Mifepristone is involved in almost two-thirds of abortions, and since late 2024, one-quarter of abortions are provided through abortion pills prescribed via telehealth. 

This case also has significant........

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