Overview
- In a Friday filing, Justice Department attorneys asked the Northern District of Texas to stay or dismiss Texas and Florida’s lawsuit over the FDA’s approval and later policy changes for mifepristone.
- The memorandum argues the states would short-circuit the agency’s orderly safety review and says judicial relief could prove unnecessary if the FDA alters its position.
- This marks the third DOJ request this year to pause similar state-led cases, following earlier actions targeting lawsuits from Louisiana and Missouri.
- In January, the administration told a court the FDA’s mifepristone review could take a year or more, and the current pace and timeline remain uncertain.
- Pro-life leaders condemned the filing as aiding abortion access, while Sen. Josh Hawley and Rep. Diana Harshbarger introduced legislation seeking to revoke mifepristone’s FDA approval.