Todd Blanche Vows to Be the Anti-Abortion AG the GOP Wants Him to Be
“The only takeaway from this hearing is that they’ll stop at nothing to try and ban abortion nationwide—even pressuring the Trump administration to misuse Victorian-era laws to do it,” Liz Wagner at the Center for Reproductive Rights told Jezebel in a statement.
Photo: YouTube/PBS NewsHour Politics Todd Blanche
ICYMI, Todd Blanche—the Justice Department villain who helped botch the release of the Epstein files, gave Ghislaine Maxwell special treatment, and released a near-900-page report enabling anti-abortion violence—is about a hop, a skip, and a jump away from leading the entire DOJ. And everything he’s been saying before the Senate Judiciary Committee confirms just how much he sucks.
The acting Attorney General appeared before the committee on Wednesday and Thursday, during which he made it clear he plans to continue carrying out the administration’s anti-abortion agenda, vowing to enforce the Comstock Act (an anti-obscenity law from 1873 that’s been weaponized by anti-abortion lawmakers) and to end access to telehealth abortion.
“Whether in a clinic or via telehealth, medication abortion is popular and the anti-abortion movement can’t stand it,” Liz Wagner, senior federal policy counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Jezebel in a statement. “The only takeaway from this hearing is that they’ll stop at nothing to try and ban abortion nationwide—even pressuring the Trump administration to misuse Victorian-era laws to do it.”
Blanche: “President Trump is the most pro-life president in history. For the first time in a decade, HHS and the FDA are taking a real look at what’s happening with some of these abortion pills and whether they’re safe or not.” pic.twitter.com/QG5PNKlWHB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 15, 2026
The question of policing access to abortion was brought up repeatedly throughout the hearing, and GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley (Ia.), John Cornyn (Tex.), Katie Britt (Ala.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), and Ted Cruz (Tex.) all asked Blanche about an ongoing lawsuit where Louisiana is challenging the FDA for its 2023 decision to remove the in-person requirement for mifepristone.
“We are losing children, and we are putting women in harm’s way,” Britt said—wholly ignoring the fact that abortion bans drive up maternal and infant mortality. “Can you commit to me today that this administration and DOJ will prioritize taking meaningful and thoughtful action to address the dangers that occurred in the current status quo to women all over this country?”
Blanche also referred to the FDA’s re-review of mifepristone, the first of two pills taken in a medication abortion. “It’s not only what the Department of Justice can do, but it’s what the FDA is doing right now for the first time in a decade,” he said. “Actually doing real studies about the safety and then the appropriateness of these drugs.” Which, audaciously, could not be farther from the truth. Mifepristone is safe, safer than Tylenol and Viagra, and more than a decade’s worth of FDA’s studies have confirmed so. What’s more, is that two JAMA studies released this year claimed 1) these studies were based on real evidence, and 2) that there’s really no reason the medicine shouldn’t be an over-the-counter pill.
The study has also been shrouded in shady proceedings we know next to nothing about, landing them at least two lawsuits urging them to comply with FOIA. What we do know, however, is that it began after anti-abortion Slenderman Sen. Hawley wouldn’t shut up about the “adverse effects” of mifepristone, citing a bogus “study” that was never peer-reviewed, that was published by a far-right think tank with ties to Project 2025, and that was denounced by over 200 experts. Last month, Hawley also said he’d only be willing to give Blanche a “Yes” vote if he settled ongoing lawsuits, like the one in Louisiana, against the FDA.
“I hate that we have these Republican states in court against a Republican administration,” Hawley said during his time. “There’s got to be some solution to this.” Nothing like a lawmaker grumbling about some pesky… laws!
Hawley had this ridiculous bar graph purporting to show “massive increases” in US abortions after the Biden admin allowed telehealth. It cites data from the Guttmacher Institute showing a 6% increase from 2023 to 2024 🤡 (1,060,000 to 1,124,000)
www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/i…— Susan Rinkunas (@susanrinkunas.com) July 15, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Sen. Cruz took things a step farther, bringing up the Comstock Act—a 19th-century law which was dormant for about 50 years until the overturning of Roe, which criminalizes the mailing, possession, or sale of “obscene materials.” When the law was last interpreted by the Biden administration, it was said to not prohibit the mailing of abortion pills. Cruz, however, asked Blanche to reconsider that—thus potentially enabling a national abortion ban.
“The Comstock Act provides that every article or thing designed or adapted or intended for producing abortion is declared to be non-mailable,” said Cruz. “Will you commit to carefully reviewing that opinion to ensure that it is faithfully reflects the actual statutory text?” “Yes,” Blanche replied.
Since Dobbs, telehealth abortions have become a particular lifeline for abortion access—especially thanks to shield laws, which permit providers from states without bans to prescribe the medication in the 13 states where abortion is totally banned. Currently, 22 states and Washington D.C. have some kind of shield law in place.
“During his hearing today, Blanche committed to giving in to the dangerous demands of anti-abortion senators in an attempt to secure a position as Attorney General,” Katie O’Connor, senior director of federal abortion policy at the National Women’s Law Center, told Jezebel in a statement. “Once again, Blanche has shown that he is a Trump loyalist above all else, and would rather further the president’s extreme anti-abortion agenda than work on behalf of the American public.”
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