Takeaways from the latest Supreme Court abortion intervention

Recently, the abortion fight had a very interesting speed bump.

On May 1, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a ruling temporarily reinstating the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s older in-person dispensing rules for mifepristone, meaning the drug could no longer simply be prescribed through a telehealth visit and mailed directly to a woman’s home.

Then on May 4, Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay temporarily blocking that order and restoring telehealth and mail distribution of mifepristone while the Supreme Court reviews emergency appeals from the drug manufacturers.

Much of the modern abortion machine depends not merely on legality, but on frictionless access, speed, and streamlined distribution.

Before anyone treats the Fifth Circuit as a crushing victory or the Supreme Court stay as a crushing defeat,