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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a coalition of 22 states and the District Columbia in urging the Supreme Court of the United States to stay a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that would restrict access to mifepristone, a safe and effective abortion medication.
The Fifth Circuit ruling would reinstate a medically unnecessary in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, which can be safely provided through telehealth. In an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court, Attorney General Brown and the coalition argue that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling is not supported by law or science, would create regulatory and administrative chaos nationwide, and would interfere with states’ ability to protect access to reproductive healthcare within their borders, particularly in rural and medically-underserved areas. They are calling on the Court to stay the lower court’s order and prevent these restrictions from taking effect. On May 4, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States granted an administrative stay that puts the Fifth Circuit’s decision on pause until 5 p.m. on May 11, 2026, while the Court considers emergency appeals. In February 2026, while the case was pending in the district court, Attorney General Brown joined a multistate amicus brief to support the availability of mifepristone via telehealth.
“The Fifth Circuit’s ruling is a direct threat to the health of anyone who relies on telehealth to access reproductive care,” said Attorney General Brown. “We oppose this harmful ruling that is based on neither science nor the law and that stands between our residents and their reproductive freedom.”
Mifepristone, when used in combination with misoprostol, is the standard medication used to terminate a pregnancy through 10 weeks, and it is commonly used by physicians to complete the termination of a pregnancy once a miscarriage has begun. Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone in 2000, an estimated 7.5 million people in the United States have used the medication safely. Medication abortion now accounts for 63 percent of all abortions in the formal U.S. healthcare system, with approximately one in four abortions provided via telehealth. Studies have consistently found mifepristone to be safe and effective.
In 2023, after extensive review, the FDA eliminated the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone as medically unnecessary. That decision followed years of evidence, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing that mifepristone could be safely provided without requiring patients to appear in person. The FDA’s action allowed providers to offer mifepristone through telehealth and enabled patients to obtain the medication through certified mail-order pharmacies and other approved channels, expanding access for patients who face significant barriers to in-person care.
Attorney General Brown and the coalition argue that reinstating the in-person dispensing requirement would curtail telehealth access to mifepristone, forcing patients to rely on more difficult alternatives or travel for in-person care. Telehealth has become an increasingly important way for patients in Maryland to access abortion care, with the share of abortions provided through telemedicine growing nationwide from five percent in 2022 to 27 percent in 2025.
The attorneys general also argue that the ruling would disrupt care in states like Maryland, where abortion remains legal and protected. Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, clinics in states that protect abortion access have faced increased demand from both in-state and out-of-state patients. By forcing more patients to seek in-person care, the Fifth Circuit’s ruling would place new strain on clinics and healthcare systems that are already stretched.
Attorney General Brown and the coalition assert that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling undermines states’ sovereign authority to protect and expand access to reproductive healthcare. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion and returned regulation of abortion to the states, many states took swift executive and legislative action to safeguard reproductive rights and expand access to medication abortion. The attorneys general argue that courts cannot leverage medically unnecessary federal drug regulations to override those state policy choices or impose unnecessary barriers to care in states where abortion is legal.
The attorneys general are urging the Supreme Court to act swiftly to stay the Fifth Circuit’s decision and protect patients’ access to mifepristone.
Joining Attorney General Brown in filing the brief, which was led by the attorneys general of New York, California, Massachusetts, and Washington, are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia, as well as the Governor of Pennsylvania.
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