GOP leaders try to reassure pro-life voters at Christian conference

The Trump administration is taking its time to change rules for chemical abortion out of an abundance of caution, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told a group of Christian conservative women in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Blanche’s comments came in response to a question posed by Concerned Women for America CEO Penny Nance who asked when the administration would take regulatory action against the abortion drug mifepristone. Blanche replied that if the administration moved before the Food and Drug Administration completed its review of the drug, a D.C. judge could block the policy changes from taking effect. He did not indicate whether the Department of Justice would reverse the Biden administration’s decision not to enforce the 1873 Comstock Act’s prohibition against sending abortion materials through the mail.

Blanche’s comments came as Republicans in Washington were asking voters to give them more time to enact conservative priorities. Aggregated polling suggests Democrats will retake the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., asked attendees at Friday’s conference not to believe the polls, but to instead focus on the ballot box and 21 toss-up races that will determine who controls the House next year. He warned that if Democrats retake the House, they will likely prioritize investigations of the administration over passing legislation.

Concerned Women for America is a Christian conservative advocacy group founded by Beverly LaHaye in 1978.

Other administration speakers on Friday included Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and Equal Employment Opportunities Commission Chair Andrea Lucas, who both touted policies they said would protect women and people of faith in the public square.

Dig Deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on a Louisiana court considering the question of mail-order abortion.