Trump-Vance DOJ Undermines Pro-Life States, Denies Abortion Drug Survivor Justice for “a Year or More”

A Statement from Susan B. Anthony, originally released January 27, 2026, SBA ProLife.org

Washington, D.C. – Today the U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal district court to deny relief in Louisiana v. FDA, claiming both the state and a survivor of abortion drug violence lack standing and are not suffering ongoing harm from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Covid-era policy of allowing deadly abortion drugs to be sent in the mail.

The State of Louisiana, led by Attorney General Liz Murrill, and abortion drug coercion survivor Rosalie Markezich sued the FDA to block the Biden administration’s mail-order abortion drug rule for harming women, ending the lives of countless unborn children, and undermining efforts by states like Louisiana to enforce protective pro-life laws. In Louisianait is a crime to poison women with abortion drugs.

Markezich has spoken out about how the Biden rule enables coercion and abuse toward women who are unwilling to abort their babies. Tragically, Markezich’s baby died.

Louisiana is one of a growing number of pro-life states suing the FDA based on the harms mifepristone has caused to their residents and the fact that current FDA policy allowing mail-order abortion undermines dozens of state laws.

Peer-reviewed research found three quarters of ER visits within 30 days after abortion drug use were coded as severe or critical. Two separate, independent studies also found more than 1 in 10 women experience at least one severe adverse event. Complications can include hemorrhaging, infection, sepsis, and even death.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary previously did not give a timetable on a promised safety study of mifepristone, but now the DOJ states that the process could take “a year or more to conduct.”

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser issued the following statement:

“Today’s denial of justice by the DOJ is completely unacceptable. It slams the door on women like Rosalie Markezich and their babies, who are suffering very real harm as the Trump-Vance administration refuses to reimplement basic guardrails on deadly mail-order abortion drugs. Abortion drugs accessible by mail are killing more Americans than fentanyl, cocaine or heroin combined. Women and children are dying and do not have ‘a year or more’ to wait on the FDA. They deserve safeguards NOW.

“As abortions in America go up instead of down, women are coerced, poisonedand ending up in emergency rooms, and state laws are undermined, it is states like Louisiana that are leading the charge to stop the mail-order abortion drug crisis. The Trump-Vance administration should be standing with Louisiana and supporting states in enforcing their pro-life laws against unscrupulous drug dealers, not holding onto Joe Biden’s disastrous Covid-era policies.

“Nearly a year ago, Secretary Kennedy promised a comprehensive study of the real-world harms of abortion drugs, yet the FDA has slow-walked it out of political fear. Now we are told it will be at least 2027 – well after midterms. That is unacceptable. But this study also should not substitute for plain common sense: Deadly abortion drugs do not belong in the mail with no in-person doctor visit, no ultrasound, no meaningful medical oversight and no accountability.

“The more the Trump-Vance administration drags its feet, the worse it is for them ahead of midterms. As we saw at the March for Life, pro-life voters are watching and expect action. Ignoring the pro-life base is a tremendous miscalculation. Seven in 10 voters overall, including 57% of liberal voters, agree Biden’s Covid mail-order abortion drug rule must go. No more delays – at a minimum, the Trump-Vance administration must re-establish in-person doctor visits immediately.”

Following a letter in October from 51 U.S. senators to the FDA and HHS calling to reinstate commonsense safeguards on abortion drugs, 175 House GOP representatives also sent a letter demanding answers from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Commissioner Makary.

In a letter to U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Makary admitted hundreds of women have required blood transfusions due to abortion drugs. SBA Pro-Life America has called for Makary to be fired.

In a September 2025 hearing, Kennedy revealed Biden’s FDA ‘twisted’ data to bury safety signals on mifepristone.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is a network of more than one million pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.