Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20a34_3f14.pdf
Page Number: 3

Cite as:  592 U. S. ____ (2021) 

1 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 20A34 
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FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, ET AL. v. 
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIANS 
AND GYNECOLOGISTS, ET AL. 

ON APPLICATION FOR STAY 

[January 12, 2021] 

  JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR,  with  whom  JUSTICE KAGAN  joins, 
dissenting from grant of application for stay. 
  The  majority  of  American women seeking  abortion  care 
during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy rely on medication 
abortion.  Medication abortion involves taking two prescrip-
tion  drugs,  mifepristone  and  misoprostol,  which  together 
induce  the  equivalent  of  an  early  miscarriage.    The  Food 
and Drug Administration (FDA) allows patients to receive 
all physician consultations for a medication abortion virtu-
ally and to take both prescriptions at home without medical 
supervision.  To obtain mifepristone, however, the FDA re-
quires patients to go to a hospital, clinic, or medical office 
to pick up the drug in person and sign a disclosure form.1  
Of the over 20,000 FDA-approved drugs, mifepristone is the 
only one that the FDA requires to be picked up in person 
for patients to take at home. 
  The FDA’s unique treatment of mifepristone has become 
even  more  pronounced  during  the  COVID–19  pandemic.  
After the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) 
declared  the  COVID–19  pandemic  a  public  health  emer-
gency,  the  FDA  and  HHS  waived  in-person  requirements 

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1 Misoprostol,  meanwhile,  can  be  obtained  through  a  retail  or  mail- 

order pharmacy.