The Trump Administration is asking a federal judge to dismiss Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s lawsuit that seeks to restrict access to a popular abortion drug.
The U.S. Supreme Court allowed access to the abortion drug last year. And last December, then-President-elect Donald Trump said he was committed to ensuring FDA access to mifepristone.
A U.S. Justice Department brief says Bailey’s lawsuit was filed in Texas, which is not a plaintiff in the case. It says the suit should have been filed in a federal court in Missouri, Kansas, or Idaho.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho fail to identify imminent harm they personally face regarding the access of mifepristone.
Missouri and the other two states argue that the abortion drug has lowered “birth rates for teenaged mothers,” causing a population loss for the states along with “diminishment of political representation and loss of federal funds.” Their lawsuit says the Food and Drug Administration should ban the mail delivery of the drug, require three in-office visits, and limit the use of the drug to seven weeks of pregnancy or earlier.
In response to the Trump administration’s move, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey released the following statement:
“Beyond a reasonable doubt, the evidence clearly establishes that mifepristone poses a grave risk to the health of women. The most recent study says 1 in 9 women who ingest this powerful chemical will end up in the ER or worse. 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,” said Bailey.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, strongly disagrees with the Trump Administration’s position. Hawley told Missourinet that the U.S. Justice Department is making “a serious mistake.”
“The chemical abortion drug, which is what this case is about, (harms) more than 10% of the women who take it,” he said. “It causes serious medical episodes, hemorrhaging, mass infections, trips to the emergency room. The lawsuit is about, should there be safety regulations around the drug? There should be.”
When Hawley was asked if he was worried about going against President Trump?
“I don’t think the President has anything to do with it,” he said. “I think it’s lawyers in the Department of Justice and the Deep State who like Biden’s rules on abortion and want to protect them. And I just think that’s a mistake.”
Abortion is legal in Missouri but GOP state lawmakers are working to scale back an amendment passed by voters in 2024.
Marshall Griffin contributed to this report
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