Mifepristone, an oral abortion pill [File Photo, Yonhap News Agency AP]On the 4th (local time), the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted a lower court's injunction that restricted the mail-order prescription of the widely used "abortion pill" in the United States.

According to the Associated Press and other sources, the Supreme Court, through an order signed by Justice Samuel Alito, suspended the previous day's order by the federal appellate court for one week.

The suspended order was a preliminary injunction from the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which would have required the oral abortion pill "mifepristone" to be administered only through in-person medical consultations at facilities until a final ruling is made.

Mifepristone was originally only available through in-person prescriptions. However, the procedures were relaxed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) subsequently amended regulations in 2023 to allow patients to receive the medication via mail after a telemedicine consultation.

Louisiana filed a lawsuit, arguing that the FDA's regulation conflicted with state laws prohibiting abortion at all stages of pregnancy and disregarded the risks of side effects caused by the drug.

Given that the preliminary injunction would affect not only Louisiana but the entire United States, including states where abortion is permitted, the pharmaceutical company Danco Laboratories appealed the ruling the following day, requesting a stay of execution, and this appeal was granted.

The majority of abortions in the U.S. are performed with medication, and a quarter of these medication prescriptions are made through telemedicine, according to the Associated Press.