DOJ asks judge to delay abortion pill restrictions
Caroline MolloyThe Department of Justice (DOJ) on Jan. 27 asked a federal judge to delay or dismiss a Louisiana lawsuit seeking to restore in-person safeguards for abortion drugs. The DOJ cited a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety review that could take a year or more to complete.
The lawsuit challenges an FDA policy adopted in 2023 under the Biden administration that allows abortion pills to be prescribed through telemedicine and shipped by mail.
The DOJ’s filing responded to a request from Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and plaintiff Rosalie Markezich for a preliminary injunction that would reinstate the FDA’s former rule requiring mifepristone, a drug used for chemical abortions, to be dispensed in-person by a certified medical provider.
Murrill argued the policy undermines Louisiana’s abortion ban and removes face-to-face medical oversight, increasing the risk of coercion and medical complications for women. According to Alliance Defending Freedom, Markezich said she was pressured by her boyfriend in 2023 to take mail-ordered mifepristone, resulting in the loss of her preborn child and lasting emotional harm.
If the court grants the request, telemedicine prescriptions and mail delivery of mifepristone would be halted nationwide while the case proceeds.
The DOJ, representing the FDA, asked the court to pause or dismiss the lawsuit entirely, arguing that the plaintiffs are not facing ongoing harm and that court action now would interfere with the FDA’s own safety review of mifepristone. The government said judicial involvement at this stage would unnecessarily consume court resources.
That review, promised by Trump-appointed officials including FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., could take “a year or more” to complete, according to the filing — a timeline that would delay any regulatory changes until 2027 or later.
Pro-life organizations condemn the DOJ’s filing
CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt spoke out strongly against the DOJ’s filing in a statement to Zeale.
“Just days ago, at the March for Life, Vice President JD Vance stood before hundreds of thousands of Americans and spoke on behalf of the administration, pledging a stronger commitment to the protection of unborn children,” Reinhardt said. “Those words mattered. They renewed hope across the pro-life movement that this administration truly intends to be – not rhetorically, but substantively – the most pro-life administration in American history.”
