SCOTUS grants emergency stay to abortion pill companies, blocking in-person dispensation requirement

By: Hannah Hiester, originally published May 4, 2026, Zeale News

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued an emergency administrative stay May 4, pausing an appeals court ruling that required chemical abortion pills to only be prescribed in person while an FDA safety review continues.

The decision follows emergency requests from two abortion pill manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, which asked SCOTUS to halt the appeals court’s May 1 ruling. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had sided with Louisiana in the state’s case against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As Zeale News previously  reported , Louisiana sued the FDA for approving mail-order abortion pills, arguing that the policy allowed out-of-state providers to ship the drugs into Louisiana and circumvent its pro-life laws.

The stay will remain in effect at least until May 11 as the Court considers taking up the case at the request of the drug companies. Louisiana has until May 7 to submit a response.

In its May 1 decision, the 5th Circuit wrote, “We agree with the district court that Louisiana has shown it is suffering irreparable harm,” adding that the FDA policy “injures Louisiana by undermining its laws protecting unborn human life and also by causing it to spend Medicaid funds on emergency care for women harmed by mifepristone.”

The ruling also ordered the reinstatement of safety regulations for dispensing abortion pills that had been suspended by the Biden administration in 2023. The directive applied to prescribers across the country.

According  to SCOTUSblog, the two companies argued in their emergency appeals that the order “injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions” and “unleashed regulatory chaos.”

Danco also contended that the 5th Circuit should have found that Louisiana did not have standing to bring a suit against the FDA in light of a similar 2024 SCOTUS decision that struck down a case brought by medical providers. At the time, SCOTUS ruled the providers did not have standing to challenge the FDA’s policy since it did not harm them. Danco argued that Louisiana’s claim of standing — based on costs incurred by paying physicians to treat complications arising from abortion pills — the argument is simply a “ more  attenuated version of the” suit brought by the providers two years ago.

GenBioPro also objected to the 5th Circuit’s interpretation of legal standing and said it “would allow States to challenge virtually any agency action whenever they allege downstream costs or interference with state policy.”

SCOTUS Justice Samuel Alito, who is responsible for emergency requests from the 5th Circuit, granted the stay until the full court decides whether to grant the companies’ request. The emergency order temporarily restores women’s ability to access abortion pills without an in-person visit.

As Zeale News previously reported, abortion pills account for more than 60% of abortions performed in the U.S.

Hannah Hiester is a staff writer at Zeale News whose work has also been published by the College Fix and the Archdiocese of Kansas City’s newspaper, the Leaven.

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