Press Release: 5/5/2026
AG Campbell Urges Supreme Court To Block Restrictions On Mifepristone
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
5/04/2026
MEDIA CONTACT
Sydney Weiser, Deputy Communications Director
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Call Sydney Weiser, Deputy Communications Director at (617) 727-2543
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Email Sydney Weiser, Deputy Communications Director at sydney.weiser@mass.gov
BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today co-led 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 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, AG Campbell and the coalition argue that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling is not supported by science, would create regulatory and administrative chaos nationwide, and would interfere with states’ ability to protect access to reproductive health care within their borders. They are calling on the Court to stay the lower court’s order and prevent these restrictions from taking effect.
“The Fifth Circuit’s ruling undermines access to essential health care and ignores decades of science proving that mifepristone is both safe and effective,”said AG Campbell. “Personal medical decisions should be left to patients and doctors without political interference. In Massachusetts, abortion care remains both legal and protected, and I will continue using every tool available to ensure that residents can access the care they need.”
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.
AG Campbell 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 Massachusetts, 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.
AG Campbell 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.
This action is AG Campbell’s latest effort to expand and protect access to essential reproductive healthcare. In March 2026, AG Campbell led a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief challenging the Trump Administration’s 2017 and 2018 regulations undermining the Affordable Care Act’s guarantee of no-cost contraception coverage by employer health care plans. In December 2025, AG Campbell sent a letter to congressional leadership urging them to reject unlawful restrictions on reproductive healthcare. In June 2025, AG Campbell filed a citizen petition with the FDA, urging them to eliminate unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone. AG Campbell has released updated “Know Your Rights” guidance about abortion care, the Shield Law, and contraception.
Joining AG Campbell in filing today’s brief, which she co-led with the attorneys general of California, New York, and Washington, are the attorneys general of Arizona, 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.