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See the full story · 2 sources‘We don’t have complete victory yet, but we will have victory, and victory will be soon, and it will be permanent,’ Blanche said during a conference call
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche privately assured religious leaders that he's working to restrict access to abortions under the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade , a recording posted online has revealed.
During a conference call hosted by the White House Faith Office, Blanche said the Department of Justice was “working hand in hand” with federal health agencies and the White House “so that the Dobbs decision becomes permanent in every state,” according to Politico .
“We don’t have complete victory yet, but we will have victory, and victory will be soon, and it will be permanent,” Blanche said.
Blanche reportedly pledged to prevent physicians in states where abortion remains legal from prescribing mail-order abortion drugs to patients in states that have banned the medical procedure.
“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,” he said. “They can’t do things like they’re doing with mailing in mail-order drugs.”
Blanche — who also described himself as a “preacher's kid” that shared the religious audience's values and concerns — didn't detail how he planned to accomplish that, Politico said.
In a statement to The Independent , the DOJ said Blanche's remarks “need to be understood in their full context, which was with respect to mail order abortion drugs, not a broader expansion of federal control over states.”
Politico said Thursday's conference call apparently took place hours after President Donald Trump publicly considered temporarily withdrawing Blanche's nomination to lead the DOJ due to controversy over the president’s desired $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund.”
Critics have said the money would have likely gone to Trump allies who claim to have been wrongly prosecuted, including the January 6 rioters who stormed the Capitol to try to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Blanche formally rescinded the plan in orders posted on social media Sunday, leading the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance his nomination Tuesday with a 12-10, party-line vote.
The conference call was recorded and posted online by the religious group Intercessors for America, which calls itself “the largest national prayer ministry dedicated to praying for our government and leaders.”
The call included announcements that it was “not on the record” and “not intended for press purposes,” as well as a directive for any journalists on the line to hang up, according to Politico , which said it wasn't on the call and didn't agree to any reporting limits.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut raised Blanche’s conference call before the Judiciary Committee’s Tuesday vote on Blanche's nomination, calling him “a zealot, a warrior, seeking to advocate the president's position against reproductive rights.”
“He wants to strip Americans of their right to choose and strip states of their right to govern,” Blumenthal said.
Democratic Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico also posted on social media: “Behind closed doors, Todd Blanche has said he wants to take away access to reproductive health care in every state.”
He added: “I will not stand by while Republican politicians in Washington try to strip American women of the freedom to make their own decisions. That's one of the reasons I'll vote against his confirmation.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights also said: “These new quotes make Todd Blanche's intentions clear. He plans to gut reproductive healthcare access across the country. We cannot let this stand!”
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