Understanding Recent Litigation On Medication Abortion: A Guide For Health Plan Sponsors

Last Friday, the United States Supreme Court stayed a federal district court order that suspended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of the drug mifepristone, which is used as part of a two-drug regimen to induce abortion. This decision means that mifepristone will remain available subject to current FDA dispensation guidelines while the appeal of the district court's decision proceeds through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (and potentially the Supreme Court). Although the Supreme Court's decision returns mifepristone access to the status quo for the time being, it creates a number of questions for employers and other benefit plan sponsors with respect to abortion coverage in group health plans, which we discuss below.