Trump backs Biden-era abortion pill defence
The Trump administration has intervened in a long-running lawsuit over the abortion pill mifepristone, asking a federal court judge to dismiss a lawsuit that could have restricted access to the drug.
A filing by the Department of Justice has asked Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee who opposes abortion, to block the lawsuit filed by three Republican-led states – Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho – without offering a judgment on its merits. Rather, it said the states don't have the legal jurisdiction to pursue their complaint in Texas.
The legal challenge was originally filed by the DoJ during the administration of Trump's predecessor, President Joe Biden.
Some commentators have billed the move as Trump being cautious on a divisive issue ahead of midterm elections, but it doesn't come entirely out of the blue.
Last year, Trump voiced his support for a Supreme Court ruling that reinforced the authority of the FDA to regulate mifepristone in a Presidential candidate debate, which ensured that the drug could still be provided by mail order without a doctor visit.
The FDA made it easier to get access to mifepristone in the aftermath of SCOTUS's overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, allowing telehealth prescriptions, mail-order availability, and prescribing by certain healthcare professionals other than a doctor.
The three states had objected to mail-order access to the drug, saying it prevented them from instituting a ban on abortion.
Earlier this year, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said he planned to launch an investigation into the safety of mifepristone, and Trump, along with many senior Republicans, have been strong opponents of abortion rights.
It's also worth noting that while Trump said abortion was an issue for state legislatures while on the campaign trail, in his just-released budget request for fiscal 2026, he has proposed massive reductions in funding for family planning services. And that ties in with an executive order issued in January to "stop taxpayer funding of abortion" in the US and overseas.
Despite the DoJ request, there has been speculation that Judge Kacsmaryk, who issued a ruling to suspend the FDA approval of the drug in 2023, may ignore it and allow the case to continue. Meanwhile, the states would be at liberty to refile elsewhere.
The suit is seeking a ban on telehealth prescribing, requiring three face-to-face visits with a doctor, and restricting the point in a pregnancy at which a termination can be allowed from 10 weeks to seven.
