Debevoise & Plimpton LLP has filed an amicus curiae brief in two parallel cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, Danco Laboratories, LLC v. The State of Louisiana, et al. and GenBioPro, Inc. v. The State of Louisiana, et al., on behalf of many of the nation’s leading medical societies to protect access to mifepristone, a drug commonly used in medication abortion and miscarriage care.

In October 2025, the State of Louisiana and Louisiana resident Rosalie Markezich filed a complaint in the Western District of Louisiana challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) current Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) that allows patients to obtain mifepristone via mail or at a pharmacy. On April 7, 2026, the district court stayed the case pending an FDA review of the current mifepristone REMS and denied plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against the REMS. On May 1, 2026, on appeal, the Fifth Circuit granted plaintiffs’ requested stay of the current REMS, thereby reinstating a nationwide requirement that mifepristone can only be dispensed in-person at a hospital, clinic, or medical office rather than by mail or at a pharmacy.

The following day, Danco Laboratories, LLC and GenBioPro, Inc., distributors of mifepristone, filed emergency applications with the Supreme Court to stay or vacate the Fifth Circuit’s decision. On May 4, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a one-week administrative stay, allowing the current REMS to remain in effect until May 11, 2026. Amici filed their brief in support of the applications by Danco and GenBioPro.

The amicus brief underscores that mifepristone is a safe, effective, and essential part of reproductive health care—regardless of whether it is dispensed in person. The FDA’s decision to remove the in-person dispensing requirement is firmly based in the overwhelming medical evidence that mifepristone remains safe and effective when dispensed via mail or at a pharmacy. Since the removal of mifepristone’s in-person dispensing requirement in 2021, there has been no significant difference reported in mifepristone’s safety. Instead, the Fifth Circuit’s order will impair access to mifepristone across the nation—including in states where abortion is legally protected—and endanger pregnant patients, particularly those from vulnerable populations.

The amicus brief was filed on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists; the American Medical Association; the Society of Family Planning; the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine; the American Academy of Nursing; the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics; the American College of Physicians; the American College of Preventive Medicine; the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society; the American Medical Women’s Association; the American Society for Reproductive Medicine; the Council of University Chairs of Obstetrics & Gynecology; the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology; the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology; the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine; the Society of General Internal Medicine; the Society of Gynecologic Oncology; and the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons.

The Debevoise team is led by litigation partner Shannon Rose Selden, counsel Kate Saba, and associate Nicole Marton, and includes associates Kaitlyn McGill, Isabel Gutenplan, Abigail Liles, Lizzy Cox, and Liza Patterson.