Trump’s DOJ Defends Biden’s Dangerous Abortion Pill Regime—And It’s Inexcusable
The Trump Department of Justice is actively defending the very Biden-era policies that have turned abortion into an unregulated mail-order business, effectively nullifying pro-life protections in states across America.
Let that sink in.
Late last Friday, Trump’s DOJ filed a motion to dismiss Missouri v. FDA, urging a federal judge to preserve the reckless FDA rules that allow abortion drugs to be dispensed online without any doctor ever examining—or even speaking to—the patient. These aren’t minor procedural guidelines. They’re dangerous regulations that put women’s health at grave risk, enable coercion and abuse, and completely undermine state pro-life laws.
The administration’s argument? Pro-life states should wait indefinitely while the FDA completes some theoretical future review. Meanwhile, the carnage continues.
The American People Have Already Decided
The polling couldn’t be clearer. Overwhelming majorities of Americans—across party lines, age groups, and demographics—believe women should be required to see a doctor before taking abortion drugs. We’re talking about large majorities of independents, suburban women, and Gen Z voters. Nearly half of those who identify as pro-choice support this common-sense safeguard.
These medical safeguards were standard practice for years until Biden exploited COVID as a pretext to eliminate them just months into his presidency.
That Biden policy remains in effect today under a Republican administration. This is unacceptable.
An Unregulated National Abortion Market
Here’s what’s happening right now: Activist abortion groups operating in states with virtually no regulations are shipping abortion drugs nationwide, completely disregarding the laws in the states where recipients live. Many require nothing more than an online form—no video call, no phone conversation, no medical examination whatsoever.
Some advertise that they’ll send these powerful drugs “in advance” to women who aren’t even pregnant.
Think about the implications. These organizations have zero knowledge of a woman’s actual medical situation. They can’t verify the gestational age of the baby. They have no real confirmation of who filled out the form.
The results are predictable and tragic.
The Human Cost of Regulatory Neglect
Abusive husbands and boyfriends are obtaining these pills and forcing them on unwilling partners. These aren’t isolated incidents—they’ve become disturbingly common.
The most recent victim was Presley Mae, a baby girl in Texas delivered stillborn after her father secretly slipped abortion drugs to her mother without consent or knowledge.
Presley Mae is one name we know. How many others don’t we hear about?
And let’s be absolutely clear about what these drugs do. Abortion pills aren’t emergency contraception like Plan B. They’re designed to terminate pregnancies much later in development. While the FDA nominally limits their use to 10 weeks, the groups distributing them often provide pills through the third month of pregnancy.
Some explicitly note—for “informational purposes,” of course—that the drugs remain “effective” into the fifth or sixth month, when babies might actually survive the standard dosage. After 18 weeks, one organization warns women they may observe “spontaneous gasping or movements” from the baby, casually adding that these “typically stop on their own.”
Read that again. They’re describing babies fighting for their lives.
Legal Acrobatics to Protect Biden’s Legacy
The Trump DOJ’s legal arguments defending this regime are shocking in their callousness.
They claim pro-life states suffer “insufficient harm” to even have standing to sue—despite the complete nullification of their democratically enacted protections.
They argue that women who were drugged against their will by abusive partners shouldn’t be able to sue unless they can prove it’s “likely to happen again” to them personally.
They insist the FDA is “monitoring the situation” and that a full review will eventually take place, so no immediate action is warranted.
Eventually. At some indefinite point. Maybe.
The Political Calculation Is Disastrous
According to recent reporting, FDA head Dr. Marty Makary may be waiting until after the midterms to decide whether to act on this issue.
If true, this represents catastrophically bad political judgment.
Recent national polling shows overwhelming Republican support for restoring in-person medical visits before dispensing abortion drugs. But here’s the critical data point: approximately one-third of Republican voters say they would be less likely to vote in the midterms if Republicans weaken their commitment to pro-life policies.
In a midterm election, alienating one-third of your base isn’t a miscalculation—it’s political malpractice.
Pro-life organizations are investing $80 million this cycle to maintain Republican majorities in Congress. But deliberately choosing to be on the wrong side of a 70-30 issue while demoralizing your core supporters makes that mission exponentially harder.
Perhaps this explains why nearly every Republican member of Congress facing re-election has already explicitly urged the administration to reverse course.
The Urgency Cannot Be Overstated
Every month this Biden policy remains in effect, approximately 10,000 babies die in states with strong pro-life protections alone. Abusers continue obtaining these lethal drugs to use against unwilling victims. Countless women and girls end up in emergency rooms with serious complications from drugs they took without proper medical supervision.
The FDA has the authority to end this immediately. The administration has already acknowledged this fact in other contexts. The harms are real, documented, and ongoing.
Pro-life states are absolutely right to pursue legal action. The human cost of inaction includes hundreds of thousands of lives between now and the midterms.
A Line in the Sand
The Trump DOJ’s decision to side with the pro-abortion lobby to dismiss these lawsuits is nothing short of disgraceful.
President Trump was elected with overwhelming pro-life support. His judicial appointments made the overturning of Roe v. Wade possible. Pro-life voters delivered him victory after victory.
Those same voters now watch in disbelief as his Department of Justice defends the Biden administration’s most extreme abortion policies—policies that facilitate abuse, endanger women’s health, and render state pro-life laws meaningless.
This isn’t what we voted for. This isn’t what we fought for. And this isn’t leadership.
The administration must reverse course immediately. Restore common-sense medical safeguards. Protect women from coercion and abuse. Honor the democratic will of pro-life states and the overwhelming majority of Americans who support basic medical standards.
The alternative is unconscionable—morally, politically, and constitutionally.
Marjorie Dannenfelser serves as president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and has been called “the woman who brought down Roe.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author.
