DOJ Moves To Block Lawsuit Over Mail Order Abortion Pill
The Department of Justice asked a federal court Friday to halt a lawsuit filed by Missouri challenging federal rules that allow the abortion drug mifepristone to be distributed through the mail.
In a court filing, the Justice Department argued that allowing the case to proceed could interfere with an ongoing safety review of the abortion pill currently being conducted by the Trump administration.
Missouri, along with Kansas and Idaho, has asked the court to block a pandemic era policy that relaxed restrictions on how mifepristone can be dispensed, including allowing the drug to be prescribed through telemedicine and shipped by mail.
“Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho are not the only plaintiffs to have challenged the current conditions of use for mifepristone,” the Justice Department wrote in the filing. “Given this widespread debate over the safety of mifepristone, FDA has concluded that the best path forward is for the agency to undertake its review based on all the evidence before the agency.”
The DOJ asked the judge to either pause the lawsuit while the Food and Drug Administration completes its review of the drug’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, known as REMS, or dismiss the case entirely.
The filing comes as pro life lawmakers and advocacy groups have urged the Trump administration to crack down on the distribution of abortion pills through the mail.
Last year, FDA Administrator Marty Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the launch of the REMS review examining the safety of mifepristone.
The review has not yet been released, leading some pro life leaders to push the administration to move faster as medication abortions continue to increase in states where surgical abortions are restricted.
A Justice Department spokesman said the filing was intended to allow the FDA to handle drug safety policy rather than the courts.
“In this filing, the Department of Justice requested more time from the court for the FDA to complete its review of mifepristone REMS,” the spokesman said. “As the Supreme Court recognized in a unanimous ruling less than two years ago, it is the role of the FDA, not the federal courts, to evaluate drug safety data and impose appropriate precautions.”
The DOJ filing also rejected arguments from pro life states that federal policy is preventing them from enforcing their own abortion laws.
The department said states remain free to enforce their abortion restrictions against out of state providers who prescribe abortion pills.
The legal fight follows a similar request from Louisiana earlier this year seeking to block the FDA’s policy allowing abortion pills to be mailed to patients.
Meanwhile, data suggests thousands of abortions are still occurring in states where medication abortion is banned due to pills being shipped across state lines.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has attempted to penalize abortion providers accused of sending pills into the state, but officials in New York have refused to cooperate with investigations due to shield laws protecting abortion providers.
The DOJ filing drew criticism from some pro life leaders who argue the administration should take stronger action to restrict access to abortion pills.
Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser condemned the move and called for the administration to eliminate mail order access to the drugs.
“The pro life movement has very simple demands,” Dannenfelser said. “There should be no place on the market for drugs meant to poison and kill innocent human beings, but at the very least this administration can and should take them out of the mail.”
A Justice Department spokesman said the administration remains committed to advancing President Trump’s pro life agenda, including protecting pregnancy resource centers and ending prosecutions against peaceful pro life activists that were initiated during the previous administration.