Antiabortion Groups Deliver Petitions to Justice Department Calling for Enforcement of 19th-Century Comstock Act

The dispute over mifepristone has reached the Supreme Court. m. on May 11 while the full court considers emergency petitions.

The case centers on the requirement of in-person screenings before receiving access to abortion pills. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said there was disappointment over the DOJ’s lack of support for states like Louisiana, which sued the FDA and mifepristone drugmakers.

The DOJ argued last May that states such as Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho lacked merit to sue the FDA over mifepristone, a stance that aligns with the Biden-era DOJ.

The Family Research Council filed a friend of the court brief in support of Louisiana. Perkins warned that conservatives may show a depressed turnout rate if the abortion drug remains widely available in November. "The problem for the Republicans is that this information gets out," he said.

"It’s going to hit around the midterm elections, and as that builds, they’re wanting enthusiasm. " Reports emerged on Friday that Trump was gearing up to fire FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Some antiabortion leaders have criticized Makary for reportedly delaying a review of mifepristone until after the midterm elections and for the FDA’s approval of a generic version last fall.

Kennedy is Health and Human Services Secretary. Marc Short, chairman of Advancing American Freedom and former chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, said too much attention has focused on Makary.

"There’s way too much attention on Dr. Makary and less attention being focused on either his boss at HHS, the Secretary, or the White House," Short said. "It seems a little bit of a cop out to be focused on just the FDA commissioner.

I get that for a lot of people, they don’t want to challenge the White House. " The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last year, stripped Planned Parenthood of Medicaid reimbursements for one year. The measure expires on July 4.

The Trump administration restored Title X family planning grants to Planned Parenthood after a lengthy legal battle. Allison Schuster, a White House spokeswoman, said the Trump Administration announced policies to end federal funding of abortion abroad and that the FDA is conducting a Gold Standard Science-based safety review of mifepristone.

Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life and defrocked by the Vatican in 2022, said he does not expect the president to do the movement’s job.

"All I need is an environment in which I can give that message, because I know it will resonate in the hearts and minds of enough Americans to make a change in public policy, no matter what our president may or may not say about it," Pavone said. Republicans dropped the long-standing antiabortion language from the GOP platform during the 2024 election cycle at Trump’s request.

The White House reportedly convened a meeting with at least one antiabortion leader on Friday.

Washington Examiner reported these developments.