Trump admin seeks stay, dismissal of two more pro-life lawsuits against abortion pill

By Diana Chandler - Posted at Baptist Press:

Published March 17, 2026

WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. Justice Department is fighting Florida and Texas challenges to the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone, compounding the Trump administration’s resistance to pro-life challenges by at least four other states.

In addition to the federal challenges, Jewish plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit secured a preliminary injunction March 5 blocking enforcement of Indiana’s abortion ban, arguing that the ban violates Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Jewish plaintiffs argued that their religious beliefs deem life begins when babies take their first breath after birth, and that the life of the mother takes precedence over the life of the unborn child.

The Indiana ruling only applies to the certified class and the unnamed plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

In the Trump administration’s filings, the Justice Department asked a Texas federal district court on March 13 to either stay or dismiss Florida and Texas challenges to mifepristone, arguing that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing the drug’s safety. The federal filing follows the administration’s active attempts to stay or dismiss similar challenges to mifepristone in Louisiana, Missouri, Idaho and Kansas.

“Given this widespread debate over the safety of mifepristone, FDA has concluded that the best path forward is for the agency to undertake a new review based on the evidence before the agency,” the Justice Department said in its March 13th filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. “At this time, ‘FDA continues to work on the collection of the robust and timely data that is necessary for a well-controlled study with adequate statistical power.”

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Commission (ERLC) said the federal government should allow the state action to proceed.

Continue here...