Abortion pill providers in Calif have backup if SCOTUS bans mail-order mifepristone
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Abortion pill suppliers in California are reportedly preparing backup plans in case the Supreme Court limits access to mifepristone, as the justices are expected to limit shipments of the controversial drug.
The Supreme Court has not set a timeline for a final decision in Louisiana v. FDA, but faces a May 11 deadline, when its temporary stay on the lower court’s decision will expire unless the justices act.
That decision from the Fifth Circuit would reverse the FDA’s recent changes and restore the old requirements that mifepristone be dispensed in person, effectively banning telehealth prescriptions and the nationwide mail distribution of the drug. Justice Samuel Alito issued a temporary administrative stay preventing that decision from taking effect while the Supreme Court considers next steps.
Mifepristone is now used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the US, and with the legal future of sending it by mail uncertain, providers in California are already pivoting.
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Mifepristone pills are displayed inside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Ames, Iowa, on July 18, 2024. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
Supply chains in the Golden State are “ready to switch in a day” to other abortion drugs, Dr. Michele Gomez, founder of the MYA Network, a group that wants to “normalize abortion care,” told the Los Angeles Times.
“It’s not going away, and it’s not going to go away,” he said of abortion.
At the pivot of the supply chain is misoprostol, which is also used in concert with mifepristone to make the cocktail used in most abortions in the US. But some health officials assess that using misoprostol alone is ineffective and carries a greater risk of side effects.
A package of Misoprostol abortion pills is shown in the adjacent photo. (SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty Images)
“Mifepristone with misoprostol is more effective than misoprostol alone, and is associated with fewer side effects,” according to the World Health Organization.
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Despite the high risk factors, suppliers are ready to send spare medicine.
US Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito testifies on the court’s budget during a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee in Washington, DC, on March 7, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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“We heard about this on Friday and the organizations that mail pills were sending misoprostol on Saturday,” Gomez told the Times. “They still know what to do.”
On May 1, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Louisiana in a ruling that the FDA overstepped its authority by allowing abortion pills to be mailed from states where they are legal where they are not. Alito issued a temporary stay on that decision, but that stay expires on May 11.
Fox News Digital reached out to the MYA Network and the FDA for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
