Supreme Court Issues Stay of Restrictions on Mifepristone Following Advocacy by AG Jennings & Coalition

Attorney General Kathy Jennings yesterday joined a coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to stay a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that would restrict access to mifepristone, which is an abortion medication that was approved by the FDA in 2000. Shortly after, the U.S. Supreme Court entered an administrative stay, granting a one-week pause of the order. The Fifth Circuit ruling would reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, which was eliminated by the FDA in 2023 as medically unnecessary. Attorney General Jennings and the coalition argued that reinstating the in-person dispensing requirement would curtail telehealth access to mifepristone, forcing patients to rely on more difficult alternatives or travel for in-person care.

Additional information from AG Jennings:

In the amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court, Attorney General Jennings and the coalition argued that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling is not supported by law or science, would create regulatory and administrative chaos nationwide, and would interfere with states’ ability to protect access to reproductive health care within their borders, particularly in rural and medically-underserved areas.

In February 2026, while the case was pending in the district court, Attorney General Jennings joined a multistate amicus brief to support the availability of mifepristone via telehealth.

“There is no reason whatsoever to restrict access to a medicine that is demonstrably safe, effective, and necessary for reproductive healthcare,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “The Fifth Circuit’s ruling is a fig leaf for an extreme ideological crusade against the right to choose. This is a dangerous ruling that the Supreme Court must not allow to stand.”

Mifepristone, when used in combination with misoprostol, is the standard medication used to terminate a pregnancy through 10 weeks. Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone in 2000, an estimated 7.5 million people in the United States have used the medication safely. Medication abortion now accounts for 63 percent of all abortions in the formal U.S. health care system, with approximately one in four abortions provided via telehealth. Studies have consistently found mifepristone to be safe and effective.

In 2023, after extensive review, the FDA eliminated the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone as medically unnecessary. That decision followed years of evidence, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing that mifepristone could be safely provided without requiring patients to appear in person. The FDA’s action allowed providers to offer mifepristone through telehealth and enabled patients to obtain the medication through certified mail-order pharmacies and other approved channels, expanding access for patients who face significant barriers to in-person care.

Attorney General Jennings and the coalition argued that reinstating the in-person dispensing requirement would curtail telehealth access to mifepristone, forcing patients to rely on more difficult alternatives or travel for in-person care. Telehealth has become an increasingly important way for patients in Delaware to access abortion care, with the nationwide share of abortions provided through telemedicine growing from five percent in 2022 to 27 percent in 2025.

The attorneys general also argued that the ruling would disrupt care in states like Delaware, where abortion remains legal and protected. Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, clinics in states that protect abortion access have faced increased demand from both in-state and out-of-state patients. Forcing more patients to seek in-person care would place new strain on clinics and health care systems that are already stretched.

Attorney General Jennings and the coalition asserted that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling undermines states’ sovereign authority to protect and expand access to reproductive health care. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion and returned regulation of abortion to the states, many states took swift executive and legislative action to safeguard reproductive rights and expand access to medication abortion. The attorneys general argued that courts cannot leverage medically unnecessary federal drug regulations to override those state policy choices or impose unnecessary barriers to care in states where abortion is legal.

Joining Attorney General Jennings in today’s coalition are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Governor of Pennsylvania.