MAY 3, 2026
Mifepristone makers file emergency Supreme Court appeal after 5th Circuit blocks mail-order access
Two manufacturers of mifepristone — Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro — filed separate emergency appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday seeking to pause a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that reinstated in-person requirements for obtaining the drug and blocked mail-order distribution. The application was directed to Justice Samuel Alito, who handles emergency matters from the 5th Circuit and can act alone or refer the request to the full court. The underlying case remains ongoing in lower courts.
The 5th Circuit issued its ruling one day before the emergency appeals were filed, reinstating a nationwide requirement that mifepristone be obtained in person from a medical provider and effectively blocking pharmacy and mail-order distribution. The ruling stems from a Louisiana lawsuit filed last year that alleged Biden-era FDA regulations, finalized in 2023, unlawfully undermined the state's own abortion restrictions. A federal district court had earlier declined to restrict access pending a safety review.
In its Supreme Court filing, Danco wrote that the 5th Circuit's order "injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions," asking what patients with existing prescriptions, or those who had scheduled appointments for the weekend, should do. GenBioPro said the ruling "eliminates nationwide access to mifepristone from certified pharmacies and by mail" and disrupts a system providers and pharmacies had relied on for years. GenBioPro CEO Evan Masingill said in a statement, "The Supreme Court must reject this unfounded and baseless attack on an essential medication."
Danco is seeking an immediate administrative stay to pause the ruling, a longer-term block while litigation continues, and potentially expedited consideration of the merits before the end of the Supreme Court's current term. The court could act at any time — either pausing the 5th Circuit's order or allowing the in-person restrictions to take effect nationwide.