South Court Pushes Right, Supreme Court Steps Back

The U.S. Supreme Court has recently halted a decision by the Fifth Circuit, an appeals court that serves Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. That appellate panel had briefly barred doctors from mailing the abortion pill mifepristone and from prescribing it via telemedicine. The high court’s intervention demonstrates its ability to counteract even a more conservative lower court.

The Fifth Circuit: A Conservative Stronghold

• Composition: Most judges appointed by Republican presidents, including six by Donald Trump.
• Key Cases: Abortion, firearms, religious freedom—often rulings that diverge from Supreme Court precedent.
• Impact: Liberal advocacy groups frequently appeal Fifth Circuit decisions to the Supreme Court. In recent terms, over a dozen cases each year have been taken up and overturned; only once in the current term has the Supreme Court sided with the Fifth Circuit.

The Mifepristone Dispute

1. Fifth Circuit Ruling

   • Declared a Biden-era federal rule—allowing telemedicine prescriptions and shipping of mifepristone—unscientific.
   • Argued the rule would undermine Louisiana’s post‑Roe abortion ban.

2. Supreme Court Action

   • Granted an emergency pause on the Fifth Circuit’s order almost immediately.
   • Earlier this year, struck down another Fifth Circuit limitation on the pill, finding lack of standing among challengers.

Other Ongoing Legal Battles

• Texas Ten Commandments Law
• The ACLU is set to challenge a state law requiring schools to display the Ten Commandments.
• A Fifth Circuit judge defended his originalist approach, criticizing “cultural elites” for favoring popular opinion over constitutional fidelity.

Significance

The Supreme Court’s recent interventions underscore that even a highly conservative lower court can be checked by the nation’s highest judicial body. This dynamic is reshaping the balance of legal authority across the country.