Political Challenges Facing Republicans Amid Abortion Litigation

With midterm elections approaching in less than six months, Republicans are navigating complicated political circumstances. They face an unpopular war, rising inflation, and declining approval ratings for President Trump. Now, an additional issue is intensifying the pressures on the administration: abortion.

Four years after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, which had established a national abortion right in 1973, abortion remains broadly accessible. The annual number of abortions has slightly increased, largely due to the availability of abortion pills. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains a decision from the Biden administration allowing access to the abortion pill, mifepristone, by mail.

A lawsuit against the FDA, though, threatens this access. Louisiana, the state behind the suit, prompted a federal appeals court to temporarily halt a rule authorizing abortion providers to prescribe mifepristone via telemedicine and send it by mail. In response to urgent requests from two manufacturers of mifepristone, the Supreme Court put a pause on the ruling twice and ultimately reinstated telemedicine and mail access, pending ongoing litigation in lower courts.

Throughout these developments, President Trump, known for declaring himself “the most pro-life president in history,” remained silent. Unexpectedly, the Justice Department, tasked with defending the FDA in this matter, did not file a brief to the Supreme Court.

“That they’re the folks who are most directly affected by the litigation and they’re not filing anything — that is shocking,” commented Samuel Bagenstos, former general counsel for the Department of Health and Human Services, under which the FDA operates, during the Biden administration. “I think it reflects this very difficult political position that the Trump administration is in.”