Mifepristone Access Maintained
The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved access to the abortion pill mifepristone via telehealth and mail, setting aside a lower court order. The decision ensures patients nationwide can continue to obtain a prescription for the medication via telehealth and receive it by mail. More than one in four women who get an abortion today obtain the medicine via telehealth, according to the ACLU.
The justices halted a May 1 order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that would have reinstated a requirement for in-person doctor visits to obtain mifepristone. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the decision. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said, "It's shocking that the Supreme Court would block this common-sense return to medically ethical practices and oversight."
Legal Arguments
Louisiana officials warned the high court that ending the in-person dispensing requirement allowed out-of-state providers to evade its abortion ban, leading to more than 1,000 medication abortions in the state. The FDA did not take a position before the Supreme Court. In 2024, Louisiana enacted a law designating mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances and criminalizing possession without a prescription.
Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, pharmaceutical companies that manufacture mifepristone, warned that the appellate court's decision caused confusion and chaos for patients, abortion providers, and pharmacies. Abby Long, a Danco spokesperson, said, "We are pleased that a safe and effective drug Americans depend on will continue to be available while this litigation proceeds." Thomas argued the drugmakers "are not entitled to a stay of an adverse court order based on lost profits from their criminal enterprise," referencing the Comstock Act.
Trump's China Visit
President Donald Trump departed China on Friday after a two-day summit with President Xi Jinping. Trump said he and Xi Jinping “discussed almost everything,” but their summit produced no sweeping agreements. Trump said he made multiple trade deals during his state visit to China.
Trump said China will buy over 200 planes from Boeing and possibly 750 more, but he provided no specifics. He also said China is buying engines from General Electric. Bloomberg reported that the US and China agreed to establish boards on trade and investment during this week’s summit.
Thorny Issues
Craig Singleton, the China program senior director and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, “Neither side moved on the issues that matter most." Xi warned of “clashes and even conflicts” with the United States over Taiwan if not handled “properly." Trump said he discussed arms sales to Taiwan “in great detail” with Xi and would make a decision about a long-delayed $14 billion package “shortly.”
Trump said he will make a decision over the next few days on whether to lift sanctions on Chinese oil companies that buy Iranian oil. Trump told Fox News that failure to come to the table on a nuclear agreement would result in “annihilation.” Trump said he raised the case of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher who was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with no result.
Future Meetings
The two leaders discussed how they could meet three more times this year, during a state visit in Washington, at the G20, and at APEC. China’s ruling Communist Party has called for strengthening manufacturing to gain a competitive edge in the global economy. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning summarized the outcome of the visit as “a new beginning.”
While the Supreme Court's decision ensures continued access to mifepristone for now, the underlying lawsuit in Louisiana continues, meaning the legal battle over abortion pill access is far from over.
