DOJ Asks Judge to Dismiss Lawsuit Against Telehealth Access to Mifepristone

Department of Justice lawyers asked federal District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to reverse FDA regulatory changes that expanded access to mifepristone, a medication abortion pill.

Kacsmaryk once issued a ruling to reverse the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone. Without FDA approval, it cannot be sold in the USA. The Court of Appeals narrowed his ruling. Then the Supreme Court threw it out on the grounds that the lawsuit’s original plaintiffs, who were anti-abortion doctors, did not have legal standing to sue.

Kacsmaryk allowed the state Attorneys General for Idaho, Kansas and Missouri (all Republican) to step in as replacement plaintiffs and revive the case.

In asking for dismissal of the case, the DOJ argues the new plaintiffs cannot use the earlier lawsuit as a way to keep the case in the north Texas district where the judge has already proven friendly to their cause. The lawsuit belongs in a venue connected with claims by the three Attorneys General that access to the drug undermines laws restricting abortion in their states. The DOJ also argues that the FDA regulations being challened are from 2016, much longer ago than the six year time limit for a lawsuit of this nature.

Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation playbook that is being implemented by Donald Trump’s regime, calls for reversing FDA approval of mifepristone and enforcing the Comstock Act’s ban on mailing abortion-related materials to prohibit delivery of the pills.

FDA Commissioner Martin Makary could readily withdraw FDA approval of the drug. Kacsmaryk’s inability to reverse an FDA decision from the bench suggests if he does so, it would be difficult to reinstate access to mifepristone through the courts.

Click here for more details.