Justice Department requests dismissal of abortion pill lawsuit

The Justice Department (DOJ) on Monday said a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the abortion medication mifepristone should be dismissed, because the states keeping it alive are not related to the underlying case.

The Supreme Court last year dismissed a lawsuit that attempted to challenge access to the abortion pill, ruling that the private entities who brought the case did not have a legal basis for the challenge. But the case was amended in October after Idaho, Missouri and Kansas joined the suit.

The Justice Department argued in Monday's court filing that the three states should not be able to keep the case open because they have no ties to Amarillo, Texas, where it was originally filed, per The Hill.

“Aside from this litigation, the States do not dispute that their claims have no connection to the Northern District of Texas,” the DOJ wrote. “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 department said the three conservative states can file their own lawsuits, but also claimed cases challenging the FDA 2016 regulations should be dismissed because they are outside the six-year statute of limitations. 

The three states have argued that the FDA's loosened regulations had allowed the abortion pill to flood into their state, which undermines their own abortion laws. The states are particularly challenging the regulations that allow the pill to be prescribed by telemedicine and shipped through the mail. 

The Trump administration responded that the regulations do not violate individual state laws, Politico reported.

“The mere fact that someone might violate state law does not by itself injure the government,” Trump administration attorneys wrote. "[The states] fail to identify any actual or imminent controversy over whether any of their laws are preempted.”

President Donald Trump repeatedly indicated on the campaign trail last year that he would not interfere with abortion on the federal level, including access to abortion pills, opting to leave the matter to states instead.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.