The Trump administration on Monday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit attempting to significantly limit access to the abortion pill Mifepristone. This takes the same stance as the Biden administration in closely monitored cases that have a major impact on abortion access.
The Justice Department's court filing is prominent given President Trump and many officials in his administration are strong against abortion rights. Trump often boasts that in 2022 he appointed three Supreme Court Justice people who voted to overturn the national rights of abortion. And so far, his administration has taken steps to cut back on programs that support reproductive health.
The court filed marks the first time the Trump administration has focused on litigation, and has significantly expanded access to Mifepristone as it seeks to reverse many of the regulatory changes the Food and Drug Administration has made since 2016.
The Trump administration's request does not address the merits of litigation that have not yet been considered by the courts. Rather, it argues that the court's filings do not meet legal standards for hearing in the federal district court where the case was filed, reflecting the argument that the Biden administration took place just before Trump took office.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the Conservative Attorney Generals of three states: Missouri, Idaho and Kansas, and the suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Texas.
“The state has not objected to the fact that their claims have no connection to the Northern District of Texas,” a Justice Department lawyer wrote in the filing.
“The state cannot proceed in this court regardless of the merits of the state's claim,” they concluded, adding that the complaint “should be dismissed or transferred due to a lack of venue.”
The lawsuit also calls for new FDA restrictions on mifepristone, including banning drugs for people under the age of 18. We also aim to practice rapidly growing by prescribing abortion medications via abortion tablets and mailing patients to patients.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2022 by a consortium of anti-abortion physicians and groups and advanced to the Supreme Court. However, in a unanimous ruling last June, the judge abandoned the case and said that the plaintiff had not tried to sue him as he was unable to show that he had harmed the FDA's decision on MifePristone.
A few months later, three lawyers resurrected the case and filed an amended complaint as plaintiffs in the same U.S. District Court in Texas. The judge in the case, the US District Court J. Kakusmalik, a Trump appointee against abortion access, criticized the FDA vehemently and ruled in the first iteration of a case that adopted many of the terms used by anti-abortion activists.
Abortion drugs are prescribed in the United States from 12 weeks to pregnancy and are currently used in almost two-thirds of abortions in the country. Women in states with abortion bans are increasingly sought abortion medication through telehealth providers.
Currently, Roev is in 19 states. There are stricter prohibitions or restrictions than the standard set by Wade. State support for abortion rights has expanded telehealth abortion providers, and many states have passed Shield Acts that protect doctors and other health care providers who prescribe and send abortion medications to patients in states with bans or restrictions.
