Newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche is helping ease tensions between the White House and anti-abortion groups, but movement leaders want action to back up his promises to further restrict abortion.
Blanche reportedly told faith leaders that he and President Donald Trump were working on a national abortion ban, but efforts were “taking longer than we want” during a prayer call hosted by the White House Faith Office. Audio of the call was leaked online by Intercessors for America before being deleted.
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He also claimed the administration wanted to make the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, “permanent in every single state.”
The comments amount to one of the clearest assurances from a senior Trump administration official to anti-abortion activists who have grown increasingly frustrated with the White House over abortion pills and other policies since Trump returned to office.
Blanche’s remarks have earned praise from anti-abortion leaders, several of whom told the Washington Examiner that his confirmation could mark a turning point in their relationship with the administration. But they also cautioned that goodwill will depend on whether the new attorney general follows his words with action.
“It’s good to know that Todd Blanche has heard of our concerns,” said Students for Life of America Vice President Kristi Hamrick, whose group has lobbied the Department of Justice over chemical abortion cases. “The Trump Administration has been too quiet on the issues with chemical abortion, ignoring the role that the administrations of past presidents played in bringing the pills to the U.S. market, deregulating them, and walking away from the chaos.”
“Our new attorney general’s comments certainly confirm the confidence that so many in the prolife movement continue to have that the Trump Administration will defend the great victory we achieved in the Dobbs decision, namely, that the people and their elected representatives can set abortion policy,” said Frank Pavone, head of the organization Priests for Life, who was defrocked by the Vatican in 2022.
Abortion-rights groups have also treated Blanche’s confirmation as a sign the administration could take a more aggressive approach.
“With Todd Blanche’s confirmation as Attorney General, the Trump administration and its backers in Congress have, once again, shown people across the country that they will never stop their attempts to make it harder for people nationwide to get an abortion and will make it more dangerous to provide that care,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund in a statement. “That’s exactly the opposite of what people want, and the consequences could be deadly.”
The immediate test for Blanche, however, could be abortion pills.
Since Trump returned to the White House, anti-abortion groups have repeatedly pressed the administration to restrict access to mifepristone, particularly its distribution by mail into states where abortion is banned or heavily restricted. The Food and Drug Administration began a study and data review regarding mifepristone distribution and usage in June, but activists argue the Justice Department already has tools at its disposal to crack down on the practice.
“Pro-life voters want a return on their investment in the Trump Administration, just like every other part of the coalition,” Hamrick said. “And the DOJ is well placed to address the weaponization of federal policy on chemical abortion pills.”
At the top of their wish list is reversing a Biden-era Justice Department opinion that permits abortion drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol to be sent through the mail. Anti-abortion groups argue the policy violates the 19th-century Comstock Act.
“While promising, Blanche’s assurances won’t stop mail-order abortion on their own,” said Gavin Oxley, spokesman for Americans United for Life.
Oxley’s group and the Charlotte Lozier Institute have argued that abortion providers violate the FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy rules for mifepristone by shipping the drug into states with total or near-total abortion bans. They have also criticized providers who prescribe mifepristone without a comprehensive evaluation.
“His confirmation must be followed by the full and final enforcement of Comstock, and the DOJ must prosecute abortion providers who violate REMS,” Oxley said. “Backed by pro-abortion shield laws, mail-order abortion has become a criminal enterprise that can only be resolved by extinguishing the DOJ’s historical apathy. Enforcing Comstock will bring President Trump’s law-and-order agenda full circle.”
In Louisiana v. FDA, the state is challenging the FDA’s removal of in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone. The Supreme Court issued a stay allowing the current rules to remain in place while Louisiana’s challenge proceeds in the lower courts, adding to frustrations among anti-abortion activists.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, is pushing Blanche to “swiftly settle the case with Louisiana … to immediately get abortion drugs out of the mail while the FDA’s safety study continues.”
The frustrations of anti-abortion groups with the Trump administration extend beyond abortion pills.
Anti-abortion groups were angered after Planned Parenthood resumed receiving Medicaid reimbursements last month following a year without federal reimbursements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Some activists have warned that Republican inaction on the issue could dampen enthusiasm ahead of the November midterm elections. Republican congressional leaders, however, appear reluctant to attempt another defunding push through budget reconciliation before the elections.
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Blanche’s arrival gives the administration an opportunity to repair those relationships, though some anti-abortion leaders argue tensions with the White House have been overstated.
“Unfortunately, there are some in the prolife community who are part of a trend that we see outside the prolife community as well that wants to complain about everything the Trump Administration does, no matter how good it is,” Pavone said. “Perhaps they have a favorite candidate for 2028 who is not associated with the Trump Administration’s undeniable successes, and they are trying to pave the way to argue for a change. We’ll see after the midterms. But that’s not an agenda of the prolife movement.”
The White House defended Trump as the “the most pro-life, pro-family President in American history, and it’s not even close,” in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“It was his historic three Supreme Court appointments that made possible the overturning of Roe v. Wade after a decades-long struggle on behalf of conservatives,” said spokeswoman Allison Schuster. “From day one, President Trump has taken bold action to safeguard life and uphold Americans’ fundamental freedoms, including ending the federal funding of abortion abroad. The Trump Administration continues to engage with stakeholders and activists in this important community to advance the President’s pro-life agenda.”
