Trump DOJ pushes to dismiss lawsuit challenging abortion pill, upsets pro-life leader

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, March 11, 2026

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal court to dismiss a case challenging the Food and Drug Administration's loosened regulations for the abortion pill mifepristone that allow the drug to be distributed by mail, drawing criticism from a leading pro-life advocate. 

The Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas against the FDA and abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories on Friday over the loosening of requirements for obtaining mifepristone, the first drug in the abortion pill regimen. The ability of women to obtain the abortion pill without visiting a doctor in person is at the center of litigation involving the abortion pill. 

Government lawyers maintained that the lawsuit threatened to “short-circuit” the FDA’s ongoing risk evaluation and mitigation strategies review for the abortion drug and insisted that the states did not have standing to bring the lawsuit. 

Friday’s filing comes less than two months after the DOJ had previously asked a federal court to dismiss a similar lawsuit in Louisiana. Pro-life activists called the filing disappointing behavior by the Trump administration, which they have also accused of slow-walking the FDA abortion pill review to complete after the midterm elections. 

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser condemned the court filing.

“Once again, the Trump-Vance Justice Department is taking the side of abortion drug dealers and the radical Left against women and children, public health and safety, and the overwhelmingly pro-life GOP base," Dannenfelser, who led Trump's pro-life coalition during his 2016 election campaign, said in a statement. "Burying this shameful move in a Friday evening news dump underscores how indefensible it is.”

“More Americans die from abortion drugs than fentanyl, cocaine and heroin combined. Haven’t we seen enough ‘American carnage’?” she asked. 

While the Trump administration sees the abortion issue as a political liability heading to the midterm elections, Dannenfelser argues that the Trump administration's actions are not in line with the views of most Republican primary voters and could impact the upcoming midterms. She cited data found in a survey of 1,000 Republican primary voters conducted by Cygnal in February, which suggests that 80% of Republican primary voters believe that the FDA should reinstate the requirement that women seeking to obtain the abortion pill must have an in-person visit with a doctor. 

“The pro-life movement has very simple demands. 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. This is no more or less than the policy of the first Trump administration," the activist said. 

“With 8 in 10 GOP base voters wanting to reinstate in-person doctor visits, and one third of the most engaged voters at risk of sitting out midterms, Trump-Vance world ignores this crisis at its own political peril."

The survey also found that 32% of Republican primary voters would have “decreased enthusiasm for voting in the upcoming midterm election.” Thirty-six percent of primary voters classified as “the most engaged” said the same. 

Similarly, 34% of all Republican primary voters told pollsters that they would “be less willing to volunteer or take part in general election campaigns” if Republican leaders “weaken or abandon pro-life policies,” with 37% of the most engaged primary voters holding the same view. Dampened turnout among Republican voters could result in Democrats taking control of one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress later this year, which would mark a significant blow to the pro-life movement. 

Efforts to restore the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion pill, which date back several years, have received renewed attention following the election of President Donald Trump in 2024 and the publication of a report from the Ethics and Public Policy Center last year finding that more than 10% of women who took the abortion pill have experienced adverse effects.

That figure is substantially higher than the adverse effect rate advertised on the abortion pill label, which asserts that less than 0.5% of women experienced adverse effects in clinical trials.