Context:

The Trump administration has filed a request to dismiss a lawsuit in Texas challenging access to the abortion drug mifepristone, continuing the defense initiated by the Biden administration. The Justice Department argues that the states involved, Idaho, Missouri, and Kansas, have no ties or standing in Texas, where the suit was filed. The lawsuit challenges FDA actions that eased restrictions on the drug, allowing its use up to 10 weeks into pregnancy and enabling mail delivery without an in-person clinician visit. A lower court previously refused to reverse the FDA's approval of mifepristone, and the Trump administration emphasizes that the states' challenges are beyond the statute of limitations. Last year, the Supreme Court dismissed a similar lawsuit by anti-abortion groups, citing lack of personal harm from the federal regulations on mifepristone.

Dive Deeper:

• The Trump administration has requested the dismissal of a lawsuit in Texas aimed at restricting the abortion drug mifepristone, maintaining the Biden administration's defense that Texas is not the appropriate venue for the case.

• The Justice Department argues that Idaho, Missouri, and Kansas have no connection to Texas and therefore lack the standing needed to pursue the lawsuit against the FDA over its regulations on mifepristone.

• The challenges in the lawsuit focus on FDA actions from 2016 and 2021 that relaxed restrictions on mifepristone, including extending its use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and allowing its delivery by mail.

• A lower court previously denied a request to overturn the FDA's approval of mifepristone, and the Trump administration points to the lack of standing and other weaknesses in the challenge, such as being outside the statute of limitations.

• In the previous year, the Supreme Court dismissed a related lawsuit brought by anti-abortion doctors and medical associations, ruling that the plaintiffs could not demonstrate personal harm from federal regulation of the drug.

• The continuation of the lawsuit is questioned due to the original plaintiffs already having dismissed their claims, and the involved states' lack of relevant connection to the district in which the lawsuit was filed.

• Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is used in combination with misoprostol for medical abortion and early miscarriage management, and its use has been a subject of legal and political contention.