The Department of Justice may be about to try a new way to cut off access to abortion pills, and it has nothing to do with passing a law.

A leading anti-abortion group has briefed supporters on a plan asking newly sworn-in Attorney General Todd Blanche to use Operation Pangea, an Interpol program built to stop counterfeit drugs, to instead target mifepristone, one of the two medications used for medication abortion. The program was never meant to police a legal medical decision.

Since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion in 2022, medication abortion has become one of the only ways many people can still get care. In 2023, 63 percent of all U.S. abortions were done using pills, and roughly 28 percent now happen through telehealth. If the Justice Department follows through, it could mean seized websites, intercepted packages, and new legal risk for anyone who orders these pills, even where abortion is legal.

Legal experts call the plan a stretch, and say its real purpose may be political. That does not make it less alarming.

The Justice Department should not use counterfeit-drug enforcement to restrict legal medical care. Sign the petition to tell Attorney General Blanche to keep Operation Pangea focused on counterfeit drugs, not abortion pills.