“Friday’s ruling is a blow to families across the country, who suffer when women are stripped of the ability to make decisions about their own health and futures,” said philanthropist Melinda French Gates, ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in a Saturday Instagram post.
She was referring to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that temporarily reinstated a requirement that the abortion pill mifepristone be dispensed in person. According to Amy Howe of SCOTUSBlog, said two companies that manufacture mifepristone came to the court in Danco Laboratories v. Louisiana, Saturday, asking the justices to pause the ruling in an emergency appeal.
“Danco and GenBioPro told the justices that the 5th Circuit’s order was ‘unprecedented’ and ‘injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions,’” Howe said.
Howe also explained that the issue is tied to court battles over the drug dating back to 2024, with the FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case filed by several individual doctors who are opposed to abortion on religious or moral grounds. Then, Louisiana filed its own lawsuit in October 2025 to seek the reinstatement of the in-person dispensing requirement.
Mifepristone is a medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn longstanding abortion protections established by Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, use of mifepristone skyrocketed, per this 2024 Audacy report.
In her post, French Gates said: “Mifepristone is a safe, essential medicine that so many women depend on in some of the hardest moments of their lives. When access to this care is taken away, the need doesn’t vanish. It just becomes harder to meet – and far more dangerous.”
French Gates wasn’t the only person to criticize the ruling.
“Telehealth has been the last bridge to care for many seeking abortion, which is precisely why Louisiana officials want it banned,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “This isn’t about science – it’s about making abortion as difficult, expensive, and unreachable as possible. Telehealth has transformed healthcare. Selectively stripping that away from abortion patients is a political blockade.”
According to the organization, requests for telehealth abortion care have doubled since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Around 60% of abortions today are medication abortions.
“The appellate court’s order overrides a lower court’s ruling earlier this month pausing the case while the Trump administration conducts a FDA review that is itself a thinly veiled attempt to lay the groundwork for additional medically unjustified restrictions on mifepristone,” said a Friday press release from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion group Alliance for Defending Freedom called the ruling a “VICTORY” in an X post. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) also called it a “victory” on X.
“Until now, the abortion pill could be freely shipped in the mail, across state lines and in unmarked packages,” he said. “This led to thousands of illegal abortions & countless women and babies endangered. I’m thankful to see this harmful practice halted.”
Howe from SCOTUSBlog said the drug companies told the justices that, “Louisiana is not required to ‘prescribe or use mifepristone’ or to ‘do anything or to refrain from doing anything’ as a result of FDA’s actions.” They argue that the 5th Circuit should have applied the same analysis that the Supreme Court previously used in holding that the doctors and medical groups did not have standing in 2024.
Danco and GenBioPro also asked the court to issue a short-term order, known as an administrative stay, that would put the 5th Circuit’s ruling on hold while the justices consider their request. Howe said the request will initially go to Justice Samuel Alito, who handles emergency requests from the 5th Circuit and who also penned the Dobbs v. Jackson decision.
“Alito is likely to ask Louisiana to respond before acting on the companies’ request,” said Howe.
