Supreme Court reinstates restrictions on abortion pill

Just before the end of the Trump presidency, the Supreme Court heard its first case on abortion since Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court in Fall 2020. The outcome was a blow to telemedicine abortion care. In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the court upheld a request by the Trump Administration to reinstate a federal rule that requires patients to pick up their abortion medications in-person from a medical provider. This ruling severely restricted the scope of telemedicine abortion since it does not allow mifepristone and misoprostol to be shipped directly to patients. We hope that in the early days of the Biden presidency, the effect of this decision will be reversed both to improve abortion access and reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure while accessing medical care.