Litigation on the matter is set to continue in the lower courts and could return to the Supreme Court down the line. But, for now, telemedicine, mail delivery, and pharmacy dispensing of the medication — which can be used to end a pregnancy — can continue where it is otherwise legal.
Last week, CG heard from reproductive rights experts about how the latest legal threats to the provision of mifepristone via telehealth could constitute, among other things, a climate issue, particularly for those whose access to in-person abortion care can be disrupted by extreme weather.
Now, after first intervening to temporarily stay a decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that would have required in-person care for the abortion medication, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 14 to allow telemedicine, mail delivery, and pharmacy dispensing of mifepristone to continue.
According to the New York Times, "The issue could eventually return to the high court," where yesterday Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissent invoking the Comstock Act, an 1873 anti-vice law that some have said could be leveraged to ban mail delivery of abortion medication.
The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organization, has indicated that litigation on the matter is set to continue in the lower courts. Meanwhile, anti-abortion group Students for Life of America said it "won’t stop fighting" against access. For now, though, such dispensing of the medication can proceed in states where it is otherwise legal.
In the meantime, reproductive health advocates stress that an alternative course of medication abortion — the misoprostol-only regimen — also exists. And the Society for Family Planning has announced a funding opportunity for researchers investigating the "effectiveness, safety, and acceptability" of a regimen using misoprostol and ulipristal acetate.
Kirsten Krueger contributed to the editing of this article.
"Pollution and climate shifts make the regular stressors more extreme and add new stressors," Jamie DeWitt, a study co-author and Director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Translational Environmental Health Research at Oregon State University, told CG.
The research involved trial participants in Pakistan, India, Kenya, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guatemala.
"We need low-cost ways to come together now, in the wake of funding cuts, even though the issues are as urgent as ever," Ashley Wolfington, a veteran of international development, told CG.
"Reported user feedback includes easier insertion, less dryness on removal, and strong overall comfort," Vyld co-founder Melanie Schichan told CG.
