The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously preserved access to mifepristone, a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the country last year.
The Food and Drug Administration approved using mifepristone in 2000, and the pill is considered safe. In its decision, the high court wrote that the plaintiff’s challenge to the FDA’s actions didn’t belong in federal courts.
Mifepristone, taken with another drug, misoprostol, is used to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks of gestation. Although typically given by a health care provider, it is often delivered by mail after a telehealth appointment or through online purchase.
In Florida, the Supreme Court decision means using the pill remains legal – up to six weeks of pregnancy. That’s when all abortions in the state are banned under the 2023 Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect May 1.
Florida law also prohibits telemedicine for abortion at any stage of pregnancy and the delivery of abortion pills through U.S. mail or any courier. Mifepristone must be taken in the presence of a physician.
That doesn’t mean Floridians haven’t been obtaining the medications elsewhere.
Several states, including California, Illinois and New York, have passed “shield laws” to protect telehealth providers from out-of-state civil and criminal investigations if they send abortion pills into states that ban or restrict it, like Florida.
MAP, a telehealth practice operating under Massachusetts' shield laws, notes that about 90% of its patients are in banned or restrictive states. Most of its sales are in Texas, followed by Florida.
Voters in November will decide whether to approve a ballot proposal that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution. On April 1, the Florida Supreme Court approved placing the proposal on the ballot.
Information from Health News Florida’s Stephanie Colombini, the Associated Press and NPR was used in this report.
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