US Supreme Court allows abortion pill Mifepristone by mail to remain in effect until it rules on appeals court decision that bans the pill by mail...By Clevelanurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader
By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief
WASHINGTON, D.C.- The President Donald Trump-leaning U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled to stay the ruling of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Louisiana vs Food and Drug Administration that effectively bans access to the abortion pill Mifepristone by mail order nationwide.
The stay is in effect until the court decides the case.
The Court did not explain its ruling or its vote count. Justice Samuel Alito dissented, and so did Justice Clarence Thomas, the only Black man on the court.
"The Court's unreasoned order granting stays in this case is remarkable," Alito wrote in his dissent.
What is at stake," he added, "is the perpetration of a scheme to undermine our decision overturning Roe.v. Wade four years ago."
The nation's high court, on June 24, 2022, overturned its long-standing 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that gave women nationwide access to abortion and handed the authority to the respective states, causing widespread nationwide protests. In turn, activists in states like Ohio lobbied voters to enshrine the legal right to abortion in the state constitution by referendum.
Thomas basically labelled an abortion a crime in his dissent. He wrote that he thought a dormant 19th-century law that bans the mailing of drugs used for abortion, as well as the state of Louisiana's strict abortion ban, barred the manufacturers from getting the court to intervene on their behalf.
"The companies," he wrote, "are not entitled to a stay of an adverse court decision based on lost profits from their criminal enterprise."
"They cannot, in any legally relevant sense, be irreparbly harmed by a court order that makes it more difficult to commit crimes," his dissent said in relevant part.
If ultimately affirmed by the high court, the 5th Circuit's ruling would cut off telemedicine access to Mifepristone for patients nationwide, including those in states like Ohio, where abortion is constitutionally protected since Ohio voters, in 2023, approved access to abortion. According to the Ohio Department of Health, Mifepristone was used in 59% of Ohio abortions in 2025.
The Louisiana-based 5th Circuit issued its ruling on May 1, 2026. Pharmaceutical companies Danco and GenBioPro asked the Supreme Court to immediately take up the issue and hear arguments before its summer recess. On May 4, 2026, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ordered a one-week hold on the implementation of the ban to allow the Justices to consider taking up the case.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and the Midwest. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com
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