July 2020: He Enjoined FDA In-Person Mifepristone Rules. SCOTUS Stayed Him.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists et al. v. Food and Drug Administration et al., 8:20-cv-01320-TDC. On July 13, 2020, Judge Chuang signed a memorandum opinion and granted a nationwide preliminary injunction barring, for the duration of the COVID-19 public-health emergency as then framed, FDA in-person dispensing and related signature requirements for mifepristone.

On October 8, 2020, the Supreme Court held the government’s stay application in abeyance and directed the district court to consider a motion to dissolve, modify, or stay (No. 20A34). On December 9, 2020, the district court denied relief from the July order. On January 12, 2021, the Supreme Court granted the application: “the district court’s July 13, 2020 order granting a preliminary injunction is stayed” pending Fourth Circuit appeal and any timely certiorari petition. Chief Justice Roberts concurred; Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan would have denied.

A nationwide PI is a documented act. A Supreme Court stay is also a documented act. The stay is the last word on that injunction’s immediate force.