Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a very disappointing decision by temporarily allowing abortion pills via telehealth to continue. This includes interstate shipments to states that have made abortion illegal.

As some may recall, in 2023, President Joe Biden’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bent the rules regarding abortion pills, classifying them as Subpart H — meds used to treat illness. Yes, the Biden administration called a preborn child an “illness.” Under this classification, mifepristone and its generic version have been distributed via mail after telehealth consultations.

Any abortifacient is horrific. It is used to kill a defenseless child in a place where he or she is supposed to be the safest: the womb. Yet adding to this tragedy is the mounting evidence that abortion pills themselves are harmful to mothers. This information has been heavily masked by the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies, both of which have been known to say that these pills are tantamount to an over-the-counter painkiller.

This could not be further from the truth. The FDA’s estimates of harm are significantly lower than reality. In fact, women are 22 times more likely to develop harmful side effects than the FDA currently admits.

Now, the pro-life state of Louisiana is using its own evidence of this harm to mothers as part of its rationale by which to go after the drugmakers. It also argues that what the FDA is allowing is prohibited by the Comstock Act. This case is working its way through the Fifth Circuit and awaiting a decision.

Nevertheless, the drug companies Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro appealed to the Supreme Court, and on Thursday, in a 7-2 decision, the Court ruled in favor of a stay that allows the pharmaceutical companies to keep shipping chemical abortion pills, upholding the Biden-era FDA loophole until the Fifth Circuit court hands down its decision.

Because this was a “shadow docket” case, none of the justices voiced reasons for issuing the stay. However, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samual Alito wrote dissents.

Thomas pointed out that Louisiana had legal grounds to go after the drugmakers. The Comstock Act specifically disallows “using ‘the mails’ to ship any ‘drug … for producing abortion,’” he explained. “A neighboring provision makes it a felony to use ‘any express company or other common carrier or interactive computer service’ to ship ‘any drug … designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion.’”

For both Thomas and Alito, the worst part of SCOTUS’s decision is that it undermines Dobbs v. Jackson, wherein the Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that states should have the right to choose how they want to settle the question of abortion. Louisiana wants to ban abortion, and telehealth mail-order abortion drugs undermine that ruling.

President Donald Trump’s FDA, under Dr. Marty Makary, has long had an opportunity to rectify this loophole. Unfortunately, Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy — who is pro-abortion — have slow-walked any changes.

With Makary’s resignation last week, there is some renewed hope that perhaps the next appointee might fight for the rights of the unborn, prevent abortion pills from entering pro-life states, and accurately report the risks for mothers taking the pill. Even just requiring that abortifacients be administered in a doctor’s office ensures that the women experiencing dangerous side effects are treated quickly. In-person visits also prevent abortion coercion.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser put it best:

Looking ahead, the path forward is clear. It is time for the FDA to return to the standard of in-person doctor visits that was in place during the first Trump administration and to fully study mifepristone. While it is my hope that mifepristone will be completely taken off the market someday, going back to basic safety standards will allow pro-life laws to take effect and add a critical layer of protection for women. Face-to-face evaluations allow for screening of ectopic pregnancies, to assess gestational age, to identify risk factors, and to detect signs of coercion.

The issue of mail-order abortions is like the Wild West, and it should be stopped. Not only is it completely irresponsible to the American people, but it also undermines federalism. Perhaps SCOTUS will stop it, or maybe the FDA will. But if neither does, then pro-life America knows what its marching orders are in the next election.