Women harmed by abortion drugs urge Todd Blanche to settle mail-order abortion pill lawsuit

Fourteen women who have been harmed by abortion drugs are urging Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to settle a federal lawsuit challenging mail-order abortion pills, joining a growing chorus of pro-life voices pressing the Trump administration to stop defending Biden-era policies that allow chemical abortion drugs to be prescribed by telehealth and shipped through the mail.

The women sent Blanche a July 8 letter ahead of his scheduled confirmation hearings, according to an exclusive report from The Daily Wire. The letter focuses on the case of Rosalie Markezich, a Louisiana woman who says her then-boyfriend used her information to obtain abortion drugs by mail from a California abortionist and then pressured her to take them even though she wanted to keep her baby.

“The Department of Justice must act now to protect women by listening to and standing with Rosalie Markezich, rather than fighting against her in litigation,” the letter stated.

The letter was signed by Tramelle Jones, Sara Huff, Elizabeth Henschel, Dora Rhode Esparza, Jannette Houston, Grace Cardoso, Abby Johnson, Kelly Lester, Erin Woods, Alani Harmon, Haile McAnally, Shanyce Thomas, McKenzie Kaupa-Thiesse, and Jessica Williams.

“She wanted her baby. She worked with children, loved them, and did not reject the thought of motherhood,” the women wrote. “Yet according to her account, her then-boyfriend changed his mind, used her information to obtain abortion drugs by mail from a California abortionist, and pressured her to take them even though she did not want to end her pregnancy.”

The women told Blanche that Markezich’s case shows the dangers of the current abortion drug regime, which they said allows abortion pills to be distributed by mail “in ways that put women at risk.”

The letter comes as pro-life organizations continue pressing the Trump administration to reverse federal policies that expanded access to mifepristone, the first drug used in the two-drug chemical abortion regimen. Under the Biden administration, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) loosened safeguards around abortion drugs, allowing them to be prescribed without an in-person doctor visit and sent by mail.

As Zeale News previously reported, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a federal judge in January to delay or dismiss a Louisiana lawsuit seeking to restore in-person safeguards for abortion drugs. That lawsuit challenges an FDA policy adopted under Biden allowing abortion pills to be prescribed through telemedicine and shipped by mail.

The case involves Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and Markezich, the plaintiff.

“If mail-order abortion wasn’t a thing, I’m 100% sure I would have my child,” Markezich said in a statement cited in a previous pro-life coalition letter, according to Zeale News. “I do not believe a doctor would have prescribed me the drugs if I told her I did not want them.”

CatholicVote has been among the groups pressing the Trump administration to change course on mail-order abortion drugs. In April, the organization joined a coalition led by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America calling on Blanche to “use your new position to reverse the DOJ’s harmful stance of siding with the abortion drug industry.”

That earlier letter urged the DOJ to support lawsuits brought by Republican-led states against the FDA, including Missouri, Idaho, Kansas, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, seeking to roll back policies allowing telehealth prescriptions and mail delivery of abortion drugs.

“Thousands of abortion drugs are being mailed all over the United States daily, even from overseas, with zero oversight,” the pro-life coalition wrote. The groups argued that the system undermines state pro-life laws, medical licensing rules, and basic safeguards against coercion.

CatholicVote Vice President of Advocacy Joshua Mercer said at the time that pro-abortion activists were wrong to frame the rise in mail-order abortion drugs as a victory for women.

“The abortion industry has celebrated the use of mail-order abortion drugs, but this has not been a victory for women,” Mercer said. “Recent studies have discovered the dangers to many women who take abortion pills.”

“We encourage President Trump and Secretary Kennedy to immediately shut down mail-order abortion pills,” he added.

The legal fight is one of several ongoing abortion pill disputes facing the Trump administration. As Zeale News reported in March, the DOJ moved to dismiss or pause a separate lawsuit brought by Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas seeking to reinstate mifepristone safeguards, arguing that the states lacked standing and that the FDA was already conducting a safety review.

Pro-life leaders have warned that the administration’s review process could take too long, while mail-order abortions continue. In a “State of the Unborn” address earlier this year, SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser called on the Trump administration to restore the in-person doctor visit requirement for abortion drugs and warned that the overthrow of Roe v. Wade could be undermined by the continuing expansion of chemical abortion, Zeale News reported.

“To the Trump-Vance administration, we insist: please act,” Dannenfelser said. “Restore the in-person doctor visit requirement for the abortion drug.”

The Daily Wire report also noted that Blanche’s upcoming confirmation hearings could bring renewed scrutiny from Republican senators over the DOJ’s posture toward mail-order abortion drugs. Pro-life groups have argued that the department should stop defending the Biden-era FDA policies and instead side with states seeking to enforce their pro-life laws and protect women from coercion and medical harm.