In a perhaps surprising move from the Trump administration, the Department of Justice is continuing a legal course first plotted by the Biden administration in a case involving the abortion drug mifepristone. As CBS News reports, when the Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling in favor of the abortion pill last year in this case, three states (Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho) were able to revive the case. The states claimed the US Food and Drug Administration's easing of restrictions on the drug (allowing it to be prescribed via telemedicine and distributed via mail) was illegal, Reuters reports. Justice Department attorneys on Monday asked a federal district court to dismiss the lawsuit, thus continuing the Biden administration's legal course in the case, the AP reports.
The Justice Department, however, is not taking a stand in support of mifepristone; it is simply arguing that the states do not have the necessary legal standing. "Regardless of the merits of the states' claims, the states cannot proceed in this court," the administration's lawyers said in a filing. The New York Times reports that some observers were surprised by the DOJ move, but, as one abortion law expert points out, "I think the best way to read it is that they're just buying time to figure out what to do about mifepristone." On the campaign trail, Trump said he had no plans to ban mifepristone, which is used in more than 60% of abortions in the US, and he may fear taking a strong stance against it could lead to backlash, the lawyer says. On the other hand, conservatives have pushed for him to do so. (More mifepristone stories.)
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