Washington — The Justice Department on Monday called on a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit aiming to challenge the expansion of access to the abortion pill mifepristone. This lawsuit, initiated by Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas, takes issue with the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulatory changes concerning the medication, which is commonly used to terminate early pregnancies.
In a filing submitted to the U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas, Justice Department lawyers argued that the states lack the right to pursue this case in the specified jurisdiction. The administration is supporting a request made previously by the Biden administration regarding this significant legal matter, which has been under scrutiny from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk since its inception.
The administration’s legal team emphasized that the original plaintiffs in the case had been deemed to lack standing, leading them to voluntarily withdraw their claims. The states involved in the lawsuit, according to the administration, have no valid connection to the court where the case was filed.
The debate over mifepristone initiated in November 2022 when a coalition of anti-abortion rights doctors and medical associations challenged the FDA’s decisions that made mifepristone more accessible. The U.S. Supreme Court previously dismissed a similar challenge last year, determining that the plaintiffs did not possess the legal standing necessary to pursue the case.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, the attorneys general for Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas sought to continue their legal fight, asserting that the FDA’s changes instituted since 2016, including allowing mifepristone to be taken up to ten weeks into a pregnancy and expanding the list of healthcare providers authorized to prescribe it, are unlawful.
In its motion, the Justice Department pointed out that the states’ claims are unrelated to the Northern District of Texas and indicated that even if the states attempted to file their claims there, the court would still lack jurisdiction to proceed.
“Regardless of the merits of the states’ claims, they cannot move forward in this court,” the federal attorneys stated, urging dismissal or transfer based on jurisdictional grounds. They also contended that the states do not have standing to pursue their claims and have failed to file their challenge within the six-year statute of limitations that applies to the FDA’s 2016 changes.
Mifepristone has become a crucial option for medication abortions in the U.S., accounting for over half of all abortion procedures as of 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The organization also highlighted that twenty-eight states impose restrictions on mifepristone, with four outright banning the mailing of abortion pills.
The Trump administration’s recent filing marks its first expressed position on the ongoing mifepristone challenge. After Trump secured a second term, calls from conservative factions urged him to compel the FDA to retract its previous measures that facilitated access to the abortion pill.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned during his confirmation hearing earlier this year that Trump had initiated a review of mifepristone’s safety. While he did not indicate that Trump had taken a definitive stance regarding the drug’s regulation, he confirmed his commitment to implementing the administration’s policies.
In June 2024, Trump stated that he held “strong views” on mifepristone and promised to release a formal position on the drug’s accessibility, although no such policy has been publicized to date.
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