Our Response to the US Supreme Court's Update

For Immediate Release May 15, 2026

“North Carolina Right to Life expresses deep disappointment with the United States Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily block the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that would have restored important safety protections governing the dispensing of mifepristone.

The Fifth Circuit’s ruling represented a medically responsible effort to reinstate safeguards that protected women for years, including in-person physician oversight, proper medical screening, and stronger follow-up care. Instead, the Supreme Court’s action leaves in place a dangerously relaxed regulatory environment that allows widespread distribution of a powerful abortion drug through the mail and telemedicine with reduced medical supervision.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the Supreme Court’s order. Justice Alito warned that the Court’s action permits continued mail-order chemical abortion and telehealth prescribing practices that undermine the ability of pro-life states to enforce their abortion laws following Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. He emphasized that Dobbs returned abortion regulation to the states, yet the current FDA framework allows abortion providers and pharmacies to bypass state protections through interstate mail distribution and remote prescribing arrangements.

Mifepristone is not a harmless medication. Growing evidence continues to raise serious concerns about complications associated with chemical abortion, including hemorrhage, severe bleeding, infection, incomplete abortion, and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy. Women deserve better than an abortion industry and regulatory system that minimizes these very real risks.

At the same time, we must never lose sight of the fundamental reality that chemical abortion intentionally ends the life of a developing unborn child. As Dr. Bill Pincus, president of North Carolina Right to Life, has consistently stated: ‘How can abortion be healthcare when one of the patients - the developing baby - dies?’

The FDA’s removal of longstanding safety protocols has prioritized convenience and ideology over the health and well-being of women and their unborn children. The Fifth Circuit correctly recognized that these safeguards existed for a reason.

While the Supreme Court’s action is temporary and not a final ruling on the merits of the case, North Carolina Right to Life remains hopeful that the courts will ultimately recognize the serious dangers posed by unrestricted chemical abortion and restore commonsense protections for women. Your wife, daughter, or niece can easily access these powerful drugs online, including minors in some circumstances without meaningful parental involvement.

North Carolina Right to Life will continue advocating for laws and policies that protect both women and their unborn children and promote authentic healthcare that respects the dignity and value of every human life.