The Trump administration asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss a lawsuit attempting to significantly limit access to abortion pills Mifepristone.
The Justice Department's court filing is prominent given President Trump and many officials in his administration are strong against abortion rights. Trump often guaranteed the right to abortion in 2022. He boasts appointing three Supreme Court Justice who voted to overturn Wade. And so far, his administration has taken steps to cut back on programs that support reproductive health.
The application is the first time the Trump administration has focused on litigation, seeking to reverse many regulatory changes that have dramatically expanded access to Mifepristone over the past decade.
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 case was filed by the Conservative Attorney Generals of three states: Missouri, Idaho and Kansas, before U.S. District Court J. Kakusmalik, a Trump appointee who strongly opposes abortion.
“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.”
Mary Ziegler, a law professor and abortion law expert at the University of California, Davis, said the Trump administration's support for the previous demand to dismiss the Biden administration's previous cases is surprising.
She suggested that the submission would “avoid anything to say about substances,” she suggested the Trump administration would delay telegraphing opinions on Mifepristone and control whether and when to take action to limit drugs.
Trump's political calculations regarding abortion have changed since his first term. Republicans won the 2024 election, but so did abortion rights in voting measures to protect abortion access victory in several conservative states, including Missouri. One of the other plaintiffs in the case, a Kansas voter, approved the right to abortion in 2022. During the presidential election, Trump tried to adapt to the changing political winds in question, sometimes taking a position that wanted social conservatives.
Ziegler said Monday's court filing could reflect a desire to be politically cautious about abortions, possibly until the 2026 medium-term elections.
“I think he thinks that doing something bold in Mifepristone could backfire politically,” she said. “But he has a lot of anti-abortion voters. He not only wants him to do something in Mifepristone, but he still hopes that he will.”
“In this case, there was no merit ruling yet,” she added.
The next step in the case is for Judge Kacsmaryk to decide whether to dismiss it or whether it will continue.
If the lawsuit is successful, abortion pills could have a major impact on access to abortion in the United States, which accounts for almost two-thirds of the end of pregnancy.
Among the FDA measurements, lawsuits that seek to reverse the lawsuit are provisions that remove the requirement that patients visit Meliston directly to prescribers. Reviving the face-to-face requirement will halt the rapidly growing practice of prescribing abortion medications and prescribing abortion medications that will be mailed to patients, including those from states with abortion bans.
“Removing in-person dispensing protections has enabled a mail-order abortion drug economy in 50 states,” the Attorney General wrote in the complaint. The lawsuit also seeks to reverse the agency's approval of generic mifepristone, the most widely used drug at present. The ability of non-physical nurse practitioners and other healthcare providers to prescribe mifepristone. Also, retail pharmacies such as CV and Walgreens have the ability to eliminate drug therapy.
It also calls for new FDA restrictions on mifepristone, including banning drugs for people under the age of 18.
The lawsuit alleges that the FDA's actions that expanded access to Mifepristone allowed women to acquire abortion medication despite the state's abortion ban or restrictions. Therefore, state health systems where abortions are limited or prohibited must require emergency room visitors to treat follow-up care or abortion complications and sacrifice state money. They also claim that such states were harmed because “the loss of life and potential births of the fetus” reduces “the potential population of each state.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the FDA violated the Comstock Act. This has rarely been enforced since 1873, prohibiting shipments “with the aim of preventing or procuring abortion.” The 2022 opinion by the Justice Department said that in most cases the law should not be interpreted to criminalize mailing abortion drugs. Trump's Justice Department has not revoked or changed his opinion.
The lawsuit was originally filed in November 2022 by a consortium of anti-abortion physicians and groups and advanced to the Supreme Court. However, in a unanimous decision in June, the judge abandoned the case and said the plaintiff was not sue because he was unable to demonstrate that he was harmed by the FDA's decision on Mifepristone.
A few months later, three lawyers resurrected the case and filed an amended complaint before Judge Kakusmalik in the same court in Texas. In the first iteration of the case, Judge Kacsmaryk announced a verdict that vehemently criticized the FDA and adopted many of the terms used by anti-abortion activists.
Abortion medications are prescribed in the United States from pregnancy to 12 weeks. 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 healthcare providers who prescribe and send abortion medications to patients in states with bans or restrictions.
A typical medication abortion regimen includes mifepristone, which blocks the hormones needed to develop pregnancy, followed by misoprostol after 24-48 hours, causing contractions during miscarriage.
Mifepristone was approved for abortion 25 years ago. Misoprostol has long been widely available in several medical conditions and could end pregnancy on its own, but the lawsuit does not seek restrictions on misoprostol. Decades of research have shown that tablets are safe and serious complications are rare.
In January, just before Trump took office, the Biden Department of Justice filed an motion to dismiss the case, citing several reasons, including the fact that Texas courts were the wrong venue. The move also said it did not show that the three states were specifically harmed by the FDA's Mifepristone regulations and that the states had not taken the necessary steps to initially request a regulatory rollback through the FDA's management channels.
The Trump administration's court application cites the same reasons. “The state also argues that the FDA's actions have made it easier for individuals to circumvent state laws,” the brief said.
“But even if you assume it's true,” the “fact that someone might violate state law” has not hurt the state government in a way that meets the legal standards they are suing.
Trump administration officials have not said much about whether they intend to roll back access to Mifepristone before. Last month, FDA commissioner Dr. Martin A. McCurry said in an interview at the Journalism Conference that he “has no plans to take action against Mifepristone.” However, he also said, “There is a continuous dataset that appears in the FDA in Mifepristone.”
“So, if the data suggests something or tells me there is a real signal, I can't promise not to act on data I haven't seen yet,” he added.
In addition to the FDA, two manufacturers of Mifepristone are the defendants in this case. Danco Laboratories, which manufactures Mifeprex, a branded version of drugs, was requested to be added to the case shortly after its original filing in 2022. Genbiopro became a party last month after creating a generic Mifepristone and demanding that the Trump administration be added in the hopes of not fully supporting the FDA's actions.
