Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated last week that the Justice Department intends to continue restricting abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Blanche, who is on track to be confirmed as attorney general, assured faith leaders that the department is "putting practices and policies in place" to limit the mailing of abortion pills.
"We don’t have complete victory yet, but we will have victory, and victory will be soon, and it will be permanent," Blanche said, according to a recording of a call with faith leaders posted online by Intercessors for America and reported by Politico. "If states have said, ‘We are going to protect the unborn and we’re going to protect every life from the moment of conception,’ we’re putting practices and policies in place so that other states and other organizations can’t attack that."
The Justice Department issued a statement to HuffPost attempting to downplay Blanche's remarks, characterizing them as misconstrued and specifically related to mail-order abortion drugs rather than a broader federal intervention into state control.
The recording of the call, initially available on YouTube, was later removed. A DOJ spokesperson told HuffPost that the department could not comment on why the recording was taken down. Intercessors for America did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Blanche, a former personal attorney for Donald Trump, took over as acting attorney general in April. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines to approve his nomination for attorney general on Tuesday, sending the vote to the full Senate. This vote followed Blanche's rescission of a May order to create a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund," a move that secured the support of Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. Trump has expressed support for Blanche despite his decision on the fund.