OAN Staff Sophia Flores
12:23 PM –Monday, May 4, 2026
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has intervened to allow the continued mail-order delivery of mifepristone while a high-stakes legal appeal moves forward.
On Monday, Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay, temporarily allowing mifepristone to be prescribed online and dispensed through the mail.
This order effectively pauses a lower court ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which had sought to block the drug’s mail distribution nationwide in a victory for state-led challenges to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
Alito’s administrative stay effectively places the appellate court’s nationwide restrictions on a temporary hold for one week, ensuring that the block on mail-order distribution remains paused until May 11th at 5 p.m.
This high-court intervention follows a flurry of emergency petitions filed over the weekend by mifepristone manufacturers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, who had argued that allowing the lower court’s ruling to take effect would cause immediate and irreparable chaos for patients and providers across the country.
While this order preserves the current status quo of telehealth and mail-order access, it serves primarily as a procedural placeholder to allow the full Supreme Court time to review the briefing. It does not represent a final determination or signal the justices’ ultimate views on the legal merits of the underlying case.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
What do YOU think? Click here to jump to the comments!
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!