NIRH Statement on Mifepristone Ruling

UPDATE:
Today, Monday May 4, 2026, Justice Alito issued a temporary administrative stay, pausing the Fifth Circuit’s ruling through May 11th and briefly restoring telehealth access to mifepristone. While this is a reprieve, it is not a resolution. The fight to ensure every person has telehealth access to mifepristone is urgent and the case remains ongoing.

NIRH President Christian Lobue released the following statement on the recent mifepristone ruling:

“This ruling is a blueprint for how abortion bans are meant to operate in a post‑Roe country — by reaching across state lines, surveilling pregnant people and their providers, and recasting patients as victims to justify the investigation, arrest, and jail time of providers. Medication abortion is safe, effective, and widely used, and telehealth has been a critical way for patients — especially those in rural areas or who can’t take time off work — to access care.

“Reinstating an in‑person requirement doesn’t protect patients; it creates new barriers. This is about control, not health. State policymakers have both the power and the responsibility to act now. They must pass shield laws that protect providers and helpers, enact data privacy protections that keep health information out of the hands of prosecutors, and fund the networks that make care possible. The courts have made their move. The states must make theirs to protect access to medication abortion care.”

###