Blanche agrees during his confirmation hearing to review using the 1873 Comstock Act to stop mifepristone from being sent through the mail.
Originally published on Fuller’s Substack, Your Body Your Choice.
Antiabortion Republican senators scored a major win from embattled acting Attorney General Todd Blanche during his contentious confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Justice. Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz used Wednesday’s hearing to press Blanche to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone, and Blanche ultimately agreed to revisit the current Department of Justice interpretation of the 1873 Comstock Act, which allows the nationwide mailing of the abortion pill under certain circumstances.
Under former President Joe Biden, the DOJ issued a legal opinion concluding the 1873 Comstock Act—which makes it illegal to send “abortion-causing articles” through the mail—does not prohibit the mailing of abortion medications today.
Cruz asked Blanche whether, if confirmed, he would “commit to carefully reviewing that opinion, to ensure that it faithfully reflects the actual statutory text that Congress enacted” in 1873.
Blanche replied, “Yes, I will.”
If Blanche’s DOJ ultimately reinterprets the Comstock Act to prohibit mailing abortion medication nationwide, it could open the door for the Trump administration to prevent women in states with abortion bans from receiving abortion pills through the mail to end their pregnancies safely at home.
John Cornyn sought the same commitment from Blanche, after claiming falsely that mifepristone is being sent to pregnant women throughout the country “without any medical guidance whatsoever.”
“There are strict state laws about prescribing mifepristone through telemedicine,” counters attorney Julie F. Kay, founder and CEO of Reproductive Futures, a nonprofit that advances telemedicine abortion access nationwide. “Nothing is being done that is sloppy or hazardous.”
What was very clear … is that medication abortion has become a central focus of antiabortion lawmakers.
Lies About Abortion Pills Weaponized by GOP Senators
There are two regimens for medication abortion: misoprostol alone, or combined with another medication, mifepristone—though the two-drug regimen is the preferred method.
Cornyn claimed mifepristone has harmed women through “side effects, heavy bleeding, prolonged … infection or sepsis, incomplete abortion and other complications.”
The truth is: Since mifepristone was approved in 2000 by the FDA for use in abortions, adverse reactions happened in less than 1 percent of cases.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) calls it “safe and effective” based on “reputable, peer-reviewed and scientifically valid medical literature.”
During the same confirmation hearing, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who called herself a “champion of the unborn,” claimed that “women are being put in harm’s way” because the FDA permanently allowed mifepristone to be delivered by mail beginning in 2021.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)—whose wife, Erin Hawley, argued before the Supreme Court in a case seeking to rescind the FDA’s approval of mifepristone—also urged Blanche to restrict mifepristone’s availability through the mail.
Republican lawmakers in Hawley’s home state of Missouri have placed another constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would once again ban nearly all abortions.
What was very clear from the number of Republican senators who questioned Blanche about access to mifepristone by mail is that medication abortion has become a central focus of antiabortion lawmakers.
By 2023, abortions using the FDA-approved two-drug regimen accounted for 65 percent of all abortions, many prescribed through telemedicine appointments with doctors.
In states where Republican-controlled legislatures have banned abortion, the share of abortions provided through medication is especially high. In Wyoming, 95 percent of abortions are medication abortions, while in Montana the figure is 84 percent.
Nationally, the number of abortions has increased since Roe v. Wade was overturned, largely because of expanded access to medication abortion through telemedicine and shield-law providers.
Hypocrisy: GOP Senators Claim to Want to Protect Women
Sens. Hawley and Britt also used their time during Blanche’s hearing to argue they want to protect women from being coerced by husbands or boyfriends into taking mifepristone to end pregnancies against their will. During the hearing, however, they cited no evidence that such cases are widespread.
By contrast, the landmark Turnaway Study—which followed nearly 1,000 women for five years after they sought abortions—found that women denied a wanted abortion experienced worse physical health, greater economic hardship and were more likely to remain tied to abusive partners than women who were able to obtain one.
Sens. Cruz, Cornyn, Hawley and Britt have not focused similar attention on the documented increase in pregnancy-related deaths associated with abortion bans.
Texas has experienced a sharp increase in maternal mortality since its abortion restrictions took effect, and the United States continues to have the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations.
At least 12 pregnant women have been documented to have died after experiencing miscarriages or other pregnancy complications in states with abortion bans—likely an undercount, with more cases still unnamed or not yet public.
Groups supporting continued access to mifepristone vow to fight any effort by Blanche’s Justice Department to restrict its availability through the mail.
“Attacks like Todd Blanche’s are yet another humiliating bid for support from antiabortion extremists, but abortion medication isn’t ever going away,” said Lizzy Hinkley, legal director for the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. “Providers across the country—in partnership with ACT—are working fastidiously to ensure telemedicine never falters.”
Liz Wagner, senior federal policy counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, agreed. “Whether in a clinic or via telehealth, medication abortion is popular, and the antiabortion movement can’t stand it.
“The only takeaway from this hearing is that antiabortion politicians will stop at nothing to try to ban abortion nationwide—even pressuring the Trump administration to misuse Victorian-era laws like the Comstock Act to do it.”
Look to these trusted groups if you or a loved one needs to know more about reliable abortion care:
- A one-stop-shop for abortion seekers: I Need An A
- Other websites to explore all your options for abortion care: Plan C Pills, Abortion Finder
- Safe websites to buy abortion medication: Aid Access, Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, Hey Jane
- If you need help affording abortion care, tell your telemedicine provider or contact an abortion fund near you.
- To protect your digital privacy when planning your abortion, click here.
- For free legal help as a patient or doctor, call If/When/How’s Repro Helpline—844-868-2812—or contact Pregnancy Justice.
- For medical advice, contact the Miscarriage & Abortion Hotline: 833-246-2632.
- If you need to know the abortion law in your state, look to the Center for Reproductive Rights. or Guttmacher Institute.
*
A note from Ms. editors: We want to hear from you for The Majority, a new campaign collecting stories about how reproductive freedom has enabled readers to build the lives they want and need. Poll after poll shows a majority of Americans support reproductive healthcare access. Yet public debate overlooks the lives shaped by abortion access, contraception, IVF, miscarriage care, maternal healthcare or comprehensive sex education—countless women who chose to pursue an education, have children, not have children, protect their health and chart their own future. Add your voice and complete the sentence: “Access to reproductive choices gave me the freedom to….” Together, these stories will help show not only why reproductive freedom remains a majority value, but also what it makes possible.
