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The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a rule mandating that abortion-inducing drugs be taken in the presence of a doctor after a lower court lifted the requirement amid the coronavirus pandemic. The request comes after a federal district judge in Maryland last month suspended the longstanding Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule in response to a lawsuit from the American College Of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as well as doctors and patients. (Kruzel, 8/26)

The Trump administration Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to reimpose regulations requiring women seeking medication abortions to obtain prescribed pills in-person from a medical facility rather than by mail. The coronavirus pandemic prompted the Food and Drug Administration to relax similar requirements for other drugs beginning in March, along with encouraging telemedicine rather than office visits to reduce the spread of Covid-19. But the Trump administration, which opposes abortion rights, didn’t suspend the in-person pickup requirement for the abortion drug mifepristone. (Bravin, 8/26)

The U.S. government on Wednesday denied a United Nations panel's accusation that states have restricted abortion access during the COVID-19 pandemic, and rejected the notion that there is an assumed “right to abortion.” “The United States is disappointed by and categorically rejects this transparent attempt to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to assert the existence of such a right,” the U.S. mission in Geneva said in a letter to the U.N. Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls. (Weixel, 8/26)

The United States on Wednesday hit back at a U.N. women’s rights panel that said some U.S. states limited access to abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting its interference and the notion of “an assumed right to abortion.” “The United States is disappointed by and categorically rejects this transparent attempt to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to assert the existence of such a right,” the U.S. mission in Geneva said in a release posted on Twitter. (Nebehay, 8/26)

A Washington nun who is also a surgeon and retired U.S. Army officer says, “Donald Trump is the most pro-life President that this nation has ever had.” Sister Deirdre “Dede” Byrne of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary focused her remarks Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention on abortion.S he says the president’s “belief in the sanctity of life transcends politics.” (8/27)