Can abortion pills be prescribed online?

May 6, 2026

A legal fight over whether mifepristone can be prescribed and mailed through telehealth, with the Supreme Court pausing a lower court’s in-person requirement. Background on FDA approvals, REMS changes, and conflicting safety studies. Heated political angles from left and right about risks and electoral fallout. Personal ethics, coercion concerns, and how courts might decide.

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INSIGHT

Supreme Court Paused In-Person Requirement For Mifepristone

The Supreme Court temporarily paused a Fifth Circuit order that would have required in-person prescribing of mifepristone, restoring telehealth and mail access until May 11, 2026.
Justice Samuel Alito issued the brief stay giving challengers until May 7 to respond while the Court considers longer-term action.

INSIGHT

Mifepristone Has Long Track Record And Evolving FDA Rules

Mifepristone has broad non-abortion uses and long usage data: over 6 million U.S. patients used it from 2000–2022 and 63% of 2023 abortions were medication abortions.
The FDA progressively relaxed rules: 2016 approval to 10 weeks, 2021 removal of in-person requirement, and 2023 finalizing mail access.

INSIGHT

Left Frames Ruling As Incremental Threat To Abortion Access

Left-leaning analysts warn the Fifth Circuit ruling could destabilize GOP politics and erode access incrementally rather than via a single nationwide ban.
They argue the movement aims to slowly restrict access through agency challenges, legislation, and state actions.

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On Monday, May 4, the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on a lower court’s order that mifepristone, a drug commonly used in early-term abortions, can only be prescribed and dispensed in person. The order pauses the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’s decision to prevent the drug from being accessed by mail. In a brief order, Justice Samuel Alito, who oversees appeals from the 5th Circuit, paused that court’s order until May 11, restoring telehealth access to the drug and giving challengers until May 7 to respond.

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Do Americans see each other as immoral?

Back in March, the headline was everywhere: “Americans Especially Likely To View Fellow Citizens as Morally Bad,” the title of a 25-country study from the Pew Research Center. Associate Editor Lindsey Knuth interviewed one of the study’s coauthors, Jonathan Evans, and Pew’s associate director of global attitudes research, Laura Silver, to talk about Americans’ national pride, partisan differences, and the state of professional polling. You can listen to the interview here.

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