U.S. Supreme Court temporarily preserves telehealth access to mifepristone following coalition brief 

OAKLAND — Co-leading a coalition of 22 attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania, California Attorney General Rob Bonta this morning urged the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a recent appellate decision that would restrict access to mifepristone, a safe and effective abortion medication, by reinstating a medically unnecessary requirement that it be dispensed in person. In an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s May 1, 2026 ruling is not supported by science, would create regulatory and administrative chaos nationwide, and would interfere with states’ ability to protect access to reproductive health care within their borders. Shortly after the coalition filed the amicus brief, Justice Samuel Alito granted an administrative stay, temporarily pausing the Fifth Circuit’s ruling until 5 p.m. (EDT) on Monday, May 11, 2026, while the Court considers applications for a full stay. In February 2026, while the case was pending in the district court, Attorney General Bonta joined a multistate amicus brief to support the availability of mifepristone via telehealth.

“We urged the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and halt the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, and we welcome that it has temporarily done so. Telehealth has made it easier for women — especially in rural, low-income, and underserved communities — to access mifepristone and obtain reproductive health care,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We should be guided by science, not politics. The in-person dispensing requirement was eliminated because it was medically unnecessary, and there is still no basis for reinstating it.”

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. Mifepristone, when used in combination with misoprostol, is the FDA-approved regimen used to terminate a pregnancy through 10 weeks. 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. 

In 2023, after extensive review, the FDA formally 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 by mail through telehealth and enabled patients to obtain the medication from pharmacies, expanding access for patients who face significant barriers to in-person care.

In the amicus brief, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue 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 to access abortion care, with the share of abortions provided through telemedicine growing from five percent in 2022 to 27 percent in 2025.
• The Fifth Circuit’s ruling would disrupt care in states like California, where abortion remains legal and protected. Since the U.S. 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. By forcing more patients to seek in-person care, the Fifth Circuit’s ruling would place new strain on clinics and health care systems that are already stretched.
• 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 argue 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. 

Today’s brief was co-led by Attorney General Bonta and the attorneys general of New York, Massachusetts, and Washington. They were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Governor of Pennsylvania.