Senator Josh Hawley is pushing the Trump administration to settle abortion pill lawsuits — and threatening to block a key Justice Department nominee if they don’t act.
Story Snapshot
- Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the “Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act” on March 11, 2026, to strip Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of mifepristone.
- Hawley warned acting Attorney General Todd Blanche he would oppose his confirmation if the Justice Department doesn’t settle pending abortion pill lawsuits.
- Hawley also sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary demanding answers about reports the agency delayed a safety review of mifepristone.
- The FDA reversed course in September 2025, announcing it would re-examine the Biden-era rule that allowed mifepristone to be mailed without an in-person doctor visit.
Hawley Draws a Line on the Abortion Pill
Sen. Hawley made clear he wants action — not just words — from the Trump administration on mifepristone. He told reporters he needed to know whether conservatives could count on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to settle the abortion pill lawsuits currently working through the courts. Hawley signaled he would block Blanche’s confirmation if the Justice Department failed to deliver.
Hawley introduced his bill on March 11, 2026, calling for Congress to pull the FDA’s approval of mifepristone — an approval first granted under President Clinton in 2000. “We’ve known for years that mifepristone is risky,” Hawley said at the Capitol. “It’s really just in the last few years that we’ve learned this drug is inherently dangerous, and it’s inherently prone to abuse.” He argued that only Congress has the power to undo that original approval.[2]
Biden’s Rule Change Is Now Under Review
A key part of Hawley’s complaint centers on a Biden administration rule change. For 20 years, patients had to pick up mifepristone in person from a certified provider. In 2023, the Biden FDA scrapped that requirement and allowed the drug to be mailed directly to patients. Hawley pressed Trump’s FDA nominee on this change during a Senate hearing, arguing the rule was dropped without proper safety studies to back it up.[6]
The FDA took notice. In September 2025, the agency announced it would re-examine the 2023 mailing rule, citing “the lack of adequate consideration underlying the prior approvals” and “recent studies raising concerns about the safety of mifepristone as currently administered.” That review is still ongoing.[20] Hawley also sent a separate letter to FDA Commissioner Makary demanding answers about reports that the agency had delayed its own safety review of the drug.[3]
Legal Battles Have Piled Up for Years
The fight over mifepristone isn’t new. In November 2022, a coalition of pro-life physician groups filed suit in federal court in Texas, arguing the FDA exceeded its authority when it first approved mifepristone and later expanded access to the drug. The case, known as FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In June 2024, the Court ruled 9-0 that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing — meaning the justices never ruled on the drug’s actual safety record.[21]
That ruling left the door open for new legal challenges. Separate lawsuits from Texas, Florida, and other plaintiffs are still active, targeting both the original approval and the Biden-era mailing rule. A federal court in Hawaii even ruled the 2023 rule change was unlawful, though it left the rule in place while the FDA conducts its review.[20] Hawley wants the Justice Department to move toward settling these cases rather than defending the Biden-era policy changes in court.
What the FDA’s Own Data Shows
Supporters of mifepristone point to the FDA’s own safety record. The agency approved the drug in September 2000 after what it called a “thorough and comprehensive review.” Follow-up monitoring has not found new safety concerns for pregnancies up to 70 days.[15] A 2026 study reviewed more than 5,000 pages of internal FDA documents from 2011 to 2023 and found agency decisions tracked scientific evidence rather than politics.[13]
That said, the FDA’s ongoing re-examination of the mailing rule shows the agency itself is not fully settled on how mifepristone should be distributed. Whether the Trump Justice Department agrees to settle the pending lawsuits — and on what terms — could reshape how the abortion pill is accessed across the country for years to come.
Josh Hawley gives acting a-g Todd Blanche an ultimatum. By María Teresita Armstrong-Matta
Josh Hawley signaled he will condition his support4AAG Blanche's conf-on guarantees that Blanche aggressively restricts access 2the abortion pill mifepristone.https://t.co/PLwmtKODwI— Lise Latulippe @liselatulippe.bsky.social (@lise_latulippe) June 12, 2026
Sources:
[2] Web – Hawley introduces bill to remove FDA approval for Mifepristone, a …
[3] Web – Sen. Hawley introduces bill to revoke FDA approval of abortion pill
[6] Web – Senate Introduces Attack on Mifepristone
[13] Web – Mifepristone has had FDA approval for more than two decades …
[15] Web – Mifepristone, preemption, and public health federalism – PMC
[20] Web – Abortion Pill Opponents Challenge FDA’s Approval of Mifepristone
[21] Web – FDA Regulation of Medication Abortion: Recent Legal Developments
