Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison welcomed on May 1 a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay that blocks a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which would have restricted access to mifepristone, an abortion medication. Earlier in the day, Ellison joined a coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia in filing an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to halt the lower court’s order.
The case is significant because it concerns access to mifepristone, which is used with misoprostol for medication abortions up to ten weeks into pregnancy. According to Ellison and his coalition, restricting access would disrupt abortion care in Minnesota, where it has been constitutionally protected since 1995.
In their brief, Ellison and other attorneys general argued that “the Fifth Circuit’s ruling is not supported by law or 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 called on the court “to stay the lower court’s order and prevent these restrictions from taking effect,” which was subsequently granted.
Ellison said: “Abortion care is healthcare, period. I cannot let a highly politicized court from another part of the country impose restrictions on abortion care that are not supported by law or science on Minnesotans. I welcome the temporary stay the court issued and strongly urge it be extended.”
The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000; since then about 7.5 million people in the United States have used it safely for abortions. The agency eliminated its in-person dispensing requirement after evidence showed telehealth provision was safe during COVID-19. This change expanded patient access through mail-order pharmacies and other channels.
Ellison noted that reinstating an in-person requirement could limit telehealth options for patients seeking abortion care—a method whose use grew from five percent of Minnesota abortions in 2022 to twenty-seven percent by 2025—and place more strain on clinics already facing increased demand following recent federal rulings.
Joining Ellison were attorneys general from New York (lead), California, Massachusetts, Washington state as well as Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon Rhode Island Vermont Virginia District of Columbia plus Pennsylvania’s governor.
