Trump admin asks court to dismiss conservative states' abortion pill lawsuit

(CN) — In a move suggesting that, at least for now, President Donald Trump’s DOJ will continue the Biden administration’s position of defending access to the abortion drug mifepristone, the government asked a Texas federal court Monday to dismiss a lawsuit by conservative states challenging Food and Drug administration decisions on the drug.

The government’s brief — which focuses on procedural issues — is the first filing the federal government has made in the case since Trump retook office.

In the brief, the Justice Department argues that Missouri, Kansas and Idaho lack sufficient ties to the Northern District of Texas, where the lawsuit was filed.

The three Republican-led states intervened in the case and moved to continue the lawsuit after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the original plaintiffs, a group of anti-abortion physicians and medical organizations, lacked standing to challenge the FDA’s regulation of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions.

The states argue that changes in FDA regulation of mifepristone since 2016, such as increasing the time the medication can be used to 10 weeks gestation and allowing it to be prescribed through telemedicine, pose risks to women’s health and undermine their anti-abortion laws.

“At bottom, the states cannot keep alive a lawsuit in which the original plaintiffs were held to lack standing, those plaintiffs have now voluntarily dismissed their claims, and the states’ own claims have no connection to this district,” the DOJ writes in its brief. “The states are free to pursue their claims in a district where venue is proper … but the states’ claims before this court must be dismissed or transferred pursuant to the venue statute’s mandatory command.”

The Justice Department also argues the states’ claimed injuries that the regulation changes undermine state laws and could increase health care costs due to complications from abortions are insufficient to give the states standing to challenge the regulations.

The Justice Department further says the states have not exhausted their administrative remedies and that it’s past the statute of limitations to challenge some of the FDA’s actions, as the states did not file their motion to intervene until more than six years after the FDA’s 2016 decisions. The department argues the states can’t rely on the prior plaintiffs’ dismissed claims to get past the statute of limitations.

“If a plaintiff cannot rely on its own prior suit to extend the statute of limitations … surely intervenors cannot do so, contrary to the States’ suggestion here,” the DOJ writes.

In a statement on the filing, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey vowed to continue challenging the rule changes.

“Regardless of which venue is proper for a lawsuit, Missouri will always fight to protect the health and safety of women and demand the FDA acknowledge the data and reinstate critical regulations to prevent the needless loss of human life,” Bailey wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

The Justice Department and the offices of the Kansas and Idaho attorneys general did not respond to requests for comment.

The Federal Drug Administration first approved mifepristone’s use to terminate pregnancy through seven weeks gestation in 2000. In 2016, the agency extended its use up to 10 weeks gestation. The 2016 update also reduced the number of visits required to receive mifepristone from three to one and and allowed non-physicians like nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe the medication.

The FDA further loosened restrictions on mifepristone in 2019 and 2021, approving a generic version of the drug and allowing it to be dispensed at pharmacies and through the mail.

Mifepristone’s safety record rivals common over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. For every million people who take the drug, only five die from its use. In comparison, the maternal mortality rate in the United States was 39.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.