Today, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito extended an administrative stay on ongoing litigation involving the legality of telehealth abortions. On May 1, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the state of Louisiana, in the case Louisiana v. FDA, and effectively banned telehealth abortions.
The companies that produce chemical abortion pills quickly appealed this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Last Monday, the Supreme Court issued an administrative stay, putting the Fifth Circuit’s decision on hold until today. This afternoon, that stay was extended until May 14, meaning that telehealth abortions will still be available until that time
The extension of the stay is a somewhat surprising development. That is because this is not the first time the Supreme Court has considered the legality of telehealth abortions. In 2024, the Supreme Court considered this very issue in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. However, the Court ruled in favor of the FDA, stating that the plaintiffs lacked standing.
However, in this case, the state of Louisiana has some stronger arguments about standing. It has argued that telehealth abortions violate its sovereignty because it is unable to enforce laws protecting the preborn. Louisiana also has argued that its state Medicaid program has incurred costs from women who were injured by telehealth abortions.
The Supreme Court will not be able to avoid the issue forever, because there are a number of cases pertaining to access to chemical abortion pending in federal courts. These include separate cases brought by state attorneys general in Florida and Texas. Also, the state attorneys general of Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas have joined a revised lawsuit that was filed by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in 2024.
On Thursday we should see if the Supreme Court wants to hear oral arguments in Louisiana v. FDA or wait and see how lower courts rule in these various cases involving telehealth abortions.