MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Doctors are still allowed to prescribe the abortion pill mifepristone over the phone and through video visits, and patients can still receive it through the mail or in a local pharmacy.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
That's because the Supreme Court kept the status quo in place in a case that is challenging doctors' ability to prescribe the drug remotely. The court gave itself a Thursday deadline to decide what to do.
MARTIN: NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin is here to tell us more about this. Good morning, Selena.
SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So it was kind of one of those heart-pounding days yesterday kind of watching the court. What did the court do eventually?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah. So they set themselves a 5 p.m. Eastern deadline, went right past that deadline and then finally issued an unsigned order at 5:30 p.m. Eastern, so a nail-biting a couple of minutes there. But what they did is that they granted an emergency request from two drugmakers to put a hold on an appeals court order that would have put new restrictions on access to mifepristone. Specifically, it would have required patients to go in person to a clinic or a doctor's office to receive the medication. So the justices have issued a stay, pending appeal in the case, so telemedicine access can continue as it has been while this case plays out in the lower courts.
MARTIN: And, Selena, you've been reporting that telemedicine has become a key way that people have been getting abortions. Is that right?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: That's right. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly four years ago, telemedicine abortion has grown and grown, and it now accounts for a quarter of all abortions in the country. Some of those abortions are happening in states with bans, but residents of states where abortion is legal are also making use of the flexibility of telemedicine to access abortion. I've talked to people who live in remote parts of California, in Georgia, in Louisiana, who all use telemedicine abortion and were grateful they had that option.
On a broader scale, telemedicine access is a big part of the reason why the overall number of abortions hasn't gone down at all despite the state bans. Mifepristone has been found to be safe by the FDA, which says 7.5 million patients have used it since it was approved in 2000. Doctors say the in-person requirement is not medically necessary. Major medical groups all asked the Supreme Court to allow telemedicine abortion to continue, which is ultimately what they did for now.
MARTIN: So the FDA is the named defendant here, but I understand that they didn't actually file a brief to the Supreme Court.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah, that's right. The FDA's position in the lower courts has been that the case should be put on ice. The agency says it's conducting a new review of the safety of mifepristone, which was prompted by Republican lawmakers and governors putting pressure on the FDA. And its attorneys were saying, let's do that review first. But the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which was the appeals court in this case, did not go along with that plan, and the FDA didn't respond to the appeals court ruling, and it also didn't respond to the justices' request. And that's striking because a key part of this case is about the power of the agency itself. And former FDA leaders, including some who served under Republican presidents, and the trade group for drugmakers asked the Supreme Court to keep mifepristone available over telemedicine, saying that it relies on a stable and predictable process for FDA to regulate medications in the U.S.
MARTIN: Selena, was the decision unanimous?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: No. There were two public dissents from Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, and they were pretty pointed. Alito called the decision of his fellow justices unreasoned and remarkable, and Clarence Thomas called the work of the two drugmakers a, quote, "criminal enterprise."
MARTIN: OK. So what is next for this case?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: It's going back to the lower courts. and FDA's leadership is also in flux, as of this week, which could also affect mifepristone. So this is not the end, and whatever happens next, we will be following it.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin. Selena, thank you.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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