Trump administration urged to reverse abortion pill policies
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Anti-abortion groups are pressing the Trump Justice Department and Food and Drug Administration to quickly reverse Biden administration policies on abortion pills and impose a clampdown, including the use of a 19th-century anti-obscenity law to block the mailing of the drugs.
Why it matters: President Trump waffled for months on a national abortion ban before saying he'd veto it, and he hasn't made clear if he would wield executive power to sharply restrict the procedure.
- One way his administration could do so is by broadly interpreting the 1873 Comstock Act, which banned the interstate mailing of "obscene" material like pornography, along with abortion drugs and contraception.
Driving the news: A coalition of 30 anti-abortion groups and activists last week urged acting Attorney General James McHenry to rescind a Biden administration legal memo that asserted the Comstock Act didn't prohibit the lawful mailing of abortion drugs.
- It's also calling on the FDA to reverse policies that expanded the time frame in which the widely used abortion pill mifepristone could be used in pregnancy and allowed it to be prescribed without an in-person visit.
- "This is the next step for a pro-life administration committed to protecting women and children," John Mize, CEO of Americans United for Life, said in a statement.
Catch up quick: Medication abortions account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in this country and use of the pills has surged as states enacted total or near-total abortion bans after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
- Opponents of the procedure have focused on a series of policies that since 2016 loosened restrictions on mifepristone, saying the FDA didn't sufficiently factor safety concerns.
Abortion rights advocates are concerned a rollback of the policies could severely limit the availability of the pills — which are considered safe and effective by major medical groups — and also restrict the mailing of medical equipment used in procedural abortions, creating a de facto national ban.
- The Trump administration hasn't weighed in. But on Friday, Trump moved to reinstate a policy cutting off U.S. global health funding to international organizations that provide legal abortion information, referrals or services.
