On Friday, the archconservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued a stunning nationwide injunction that directly affects one-fourth of all abortions in the United States. The opinion rejected an Food and Drug Administration regulation allowing people to buy mifepristone, a drug used for medication abortion and miscarriage management, by mail. This ruling applies nationally, even in states that haven’t banned abortion. On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a temporary hold, meaning that mifepristone can still be mailed—for now. The 5th Circuit’s ruling echoes one from three years ago, also released on a Friday. But this is not déjà vu. Three years ago, President Joe Biden’s FDA appealed the 5th Circuit decision to the Supreme Court to try to maintain access to mifepristone (and succeeded). This time, the Trump administration is complicit in the circuit court’s ruling, while trying to stay under the radar.

Citation
Naomi R. Cahn & Sonia M. Suter, A Radical Court Just Called Trump’s Abortion Bluff, Slate.com (May 4, 2026).