Attorney General Mayes Welcomes Supreme Court Stay on Mifepristone Restrictions, Warns Fight for Abortion Access Not Over

PHOENIX –Attorney General Kris Mayes today joined a coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to stay a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that restricted access to mifepristone, a safe and effective abortion medication. The Supreme Court has now ordered that stay, temporarily blocking the Fifth Circuit's ruling from taking effect.

"Today's stay from the Supreme Court is a critical — if temporary — victory for the women of Arizona and across this country who depend on mifepristone for their health care,” said Attorney General Mayes. “But the same forces that have worked to dismantle reproductive rights since the Dobbs decision continue to use every available legal avenue to deny women access to abortion. I will not stop fighting to ensure that every Arizonan can access reproductive health care."

Mifepristone, when used in combination with misoprostol, is the standard medication used to terminate a pregnancy through 10 weeks. 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. health care 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 Mayes 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 to access abortion care, with the share of abortions provided through telemedicine growing from five percent in 2022 to 27 percent in 2025. 
 
The attorneys general also argue that the ruling would disrupt care in states like Arizona, 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 health care systems that are already stretched. 
 
Attorney General Mayes and the coalition assert that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling undermines states’ sovereign authority to protect and expand access to reproductive health care. 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. 
 
Joining Attorney General Mayes in filing the brief, which was led by the attorneys general of New York, California, Massachusetts, and Washington, are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, as well as the Governor of Pennsylvania.

In February 2026, while the case was pending in the district court, Attorney General Mayes joined a multistate amicus brief to support the availability of mifepristone via telehealth.