Supreme Court temporarily lifts mail ban on abortion pill mifepristone

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday temporarily lifted a lower court's ban on the abortion pill mifepristone being sent through the mail.

The administrative stay of the ban on mailing of mifepristone issued Friday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will continue until at least 5 p.m. ET May 11, but could be extended after that.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who granted the temporary pause, gave the state of Louisiana until 5 p.m. Thursday to respond to requests that the 5th Circuit's ruling be blocked as litigation over the issue plays out.

Two drugmakers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, over the weekend asked the Supreme Court to lift the ban on mifepristone being distributed through the mail.

The drug is used in about two-thirds of all abortions in the United States.

Louisiana had sued the Food and Drug Administration over its 2023 decision to lift a rule that mifepristone had to be administered in person.