WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is leaving women’s access to a widely used abortion pill untouched until at least Thursday, while the justices consider whether to allow restrictions on the drug, mifepristone, to take effect.
Justice Samuel Alito’s order Monday allows women seeking abortions to continue obtaining the pill at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor. It prevents restrictions on mifepristone imposed by a federal appeals court from taking effect for the time being.
The court is dealing with its latest abortion controversy four years after its conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed more than a dozen states to effectively ban abortion outright.
The case before the court stems from a lawsuit Louisiana filed to roll back the Food and Drug Administration’s rules on how mifepristone can be prescribed. The state claims the policy undermines the ban there, and it questions the safety of the drug, which was first approved in 2000 and has repeatedly been deemed safe and effective by FDA scientists.
Lower courts concluded that Louisiana is likely to prevail, and a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that mail access and telehealth visits should be suspended while the case plays out.
The drug is most often used for abortion in combination with another drug, misoprostol. Medication abortions accounted for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. in 2023, the last year for which statistics are available.
The current dispute is similar to one that reached the court three years ago.
Lower courts then also sought to restrict access to mifepristone, in a case brought by physicians who oppose abortion. They filed suit in the months after the court overturned Roe.
The Supreme Court blocked the 5th Circuit ruling from taking effect over the dissenting votes of Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas. Then, in 2024, the high court unanimously dismissed the doctors’ suit, reasoning they did not have the legal right, or standing, to sue.
In the current dispute, mainstream medical groups, the pharmaceutical industry and Democratic members of Congress have weighed in cautioning the court against limiting access to the drug. Pharmaceutical companies said a ruling for abortion opponents would upend the drug approval process.
The FDA has eased a number of restrictions initially placed on the drug, including who can prescribe it, how it is dispensed and what kinds of safety complications must be reported.
Despite those determinations, abortion opponents have been challenging the safety of mifepristone for more than 25 years. They have filed a series of petitions and lawsuits against the agency, generally alleging that it violated federal law by overlooking safety issues with the pill.
President Donald Trump’s administration has been unusually quiet at the Supreme Court. It declined to file a written brief recommending what the court should do, even though federal regulations are at issue.
The case puts Trump’s Republican administration in a difficult place. Trump has relied on the political support of anti-abortion groups but has also seen ballot question and poll results that show Americans generally support abortion rights.
Both sides took the silence as an implicit endorsement of the appellate ruling. Alito is both the justice in charge of handling emergency appeals from Louisiana and the author of the 2022 decision that declared abortion is not a constitutional right and returned the issue to the states.
Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, N.J.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., March 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For all the superpowers Anthony Edwards possesses on the court, his pristine physical condition has proven to be the most valuable trait for the Minnesota Timberwolves during the NBA playoffs this year.
“Honestly, I think he would just now be coming back if he was like a normal human being, but he’s not,” teammate Mike Conley said after Edwards scored 16 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to fuel a Game 4 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday that tied their second-round series at two games apiece.
“We’re thankful for what he’s sacrificing for us and putting us on his back," Conley added. "We expect it from him. He expects it. So we just try to keep him healthy, keep him going forward.”
After returning from a hyperextended left knee that caused a deep bone bruise in nine days, Edwards had 18 points in a 25-minute reserve role to help the Timberwolves take the opener from the Spurs on the road on May 4. Edwards was back in the starting lineup for Game 3 at home on Friday and played 41 minutes.
He logged 40 minutes in Game 4 and was on the floor for the entire fourth quarter, a move coach Chris Finch made only three times during the regular season. Edwards also played the final 12 minutes in the opener of the first-round series at Denver on April 18, one week before his latest injury.
“Man, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff to get in shape. I've got the best physical therapist in the world when it comes to my body, David Hines, so big shoutout to him,” Edwards said, referring to the team's vice president of medical operations and performance. “He’s on a whole other level when it comes to that stuff.”
Edwards was limited to a career-low 61 games during the regular season, largely because of persistent pain in his right knee. Before 2025-26, he never missed more than three games in any season.
“We’re lucky to have him. He’s special, no doubt, especially given what he’s been fighting through over the last month and a half,” Finch said.
Edwards shot 13 for 22 from the floor on Sunday, including 3 for 5 from 3-point range. He took advantage of Victor Wembanyama's stunning ejection by getting to the rim, too, including a crucial finger-roll layup he dropped in through traffic with 2:24 left for a four-point lead in the 114-109 victory.
Edwards was hesitant to express much satisfaction afterward, chiding himself and the rest of the starting lineup for a lackluster third quarter while revealing that, yes, even he has his physical limits.
“I was gassed a little bit," Edwards said, "so I came out like super low on energy, just walking up and down the floor.”
His performance had more to it than simply determination and durability, though. On Mother's Day, Edwards acknowledged a deep sense of motivation and purpose in Game 4 in honor of his late mother, Yvette Edwards, who died of cancer in 2015 when he was just 13. His grandmother also died later that year.
“I couldn't lose this game for her," Edwards said before praising the support he has received from family members and close friends in Atlanta over the last decade since losing his mom and grandma. “It’s not a bunch of people that's just willing to do anything you say. These people really want to see me succeed, and they don’t let me take a day off. They stay on me.”
With that, the intensely private Edwards quickly shifted the focus in the postgame interview room at Target Center back to basketball.
“So I appreciate everybody that’s in my circle, but that’s enough about me," he said. "Just ask about my team.”
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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet (7) during the first half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball second-round playoffs series in Minneapolis, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) drives against San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) during the first half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball second-round playoffs series in Minneapolis, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts after scoring against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball second-round playoffs series in Minneapolis, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
