WASHINGTON (OSV News) – As Todd Blanche was confirmed and sworn in as attorney general, a group of pro-life organizations urged him to follow through on his previous comments that the Trump administration would review a Biden administration policy permitting the shipment of mifepristone by mail.
The Trump administration has sought to pause multiple state lawsuits seeking to roll back Biden administration-era eased restrictions on mifepristone, a drug commonly used for first trimester abortion, but which is also used in some miscarriage care protocols. The Trump administration has thus far left that regulation in effect while seeking to block those challenges, pending a promised FDA safety review, prompting frustration from pro-life advocates.
Advancing American Freedom, the think tank founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, said it led 35 organizations in sending a letter Aug. 7 to Blanche prior to his confirmation, calling on him to “honor his commitment to review President Biden’s Office of Legal Counsel’s December 2022 opinion on the Comstock Act.”
The Comstock Act of 1873 bans lewd materials, including contraceptives and abortifacients, from being sent through the mail, although it has not been enforced in recent decades. Some have suggested that the law, still on the books, could be used to ban abortion pills even in states that permit their use.
But the 2022 DOJ memo referenced by the AAF letter argued the law “does not prohibit the mailing of certain drugs that can be used to perform abortions where the sender lacks the intent that the recipient of the drugs will use them unlawfully.”
In their letter, the pro-life groups argued that during his hearing, Blanche said he would review the finding and should do so promptly.
“We thank you for pledging to evaluate whether the OLC opinion is consistent with the statute Congress actually passed and look forward to the result of your review,” they said.
Signatories on the Aug. 7 letter included Tim Chapman, AAF president, as well as representatives from SBA Pro-Life America, Students for Life of America and Americans United for Life.
Supporters of allowing mifepristone to be distributed by mail have argued that the law has long been considered antiquated, unenforceable, or unconstitutional. But some have argued it should be repealed.
Prior to his confirmation Aug. 8, Blanche signaled on a call with a predominantly Protestant Christian ministry that the Trump administration would be “putting practices and policies in place” to stop shipment of mifepristone by mail.
During a private call in late July, hosted by the White House Faith Office, Blanche told the group Intercessors for America that the Justice Department was “working hand in hand” with federal agencies and the White House “so that the Dobbs decision becomes permanent in every single state.”
He was referring to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which had found that abortion was a constitutionally protected right, and returned the matter of restricting or regulating abortion to the legislative branch. A recording of the Blanche call, which appears to have since been removed from YouTube, was first reported by Politico.
“If states have said, ‘We are going to protect the unborn and we’re going to protect every life from the moment of conception,’ we’re putting practices and policies in place so that other states and other organizations can’t attack that,” Blanche said on the call. “They can’t do things like they’re doing with mailing in mail-order drugs.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from OSV News. But a Justice Department statement to The Hill claimed Blanche’s “comments have been mischaracterized and need to be understood in their full context, which was with respect to mail order abortion drugs, not a broader expansion of federal control over states.”
In an Aug. 8 statement regarding Blanche’s confirmation, Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said, “The Trump administration and its backers in Congress have, once again, shown people across the country that they will never stop their attempts to make it harder for people nationwide to get an abortion and will make it more dangerous to provide that care.”
“That’s exactly the opposite of what people want and the consequences could be deadly,” she argued.
Blanche, who was previously President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, was sworn in Aug. 10 as attorney general after a contentious confirmation process during which Republican senators raised issues including a controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” sought by Trump; objections to the way the Department of Justice handled the release of the Epstein files; and its approach to state challenges to a policy permitting distribution of mifepristone by mail, calling into question whether they would have the votes to confirm him without Democratic support.
But the Senate narrowly confirmed Blanche as attorney general in a 49-50 vote in the early hours of Aug. 8.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is seeking reelection in a swing state in November, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, declined to support Blanche.
Without any Democratic support for Blanche’s nomination, and with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., still absent from the upper chamber, every other Republican was needed for the confirmation. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who was among the senators seen as key swing votes in the process, effectively allowed the confirmation to move forward by stating on the Senate floor he would vote to confirm Blanche.