--- title: The Danger of Todd Blanche’s Statements on Abortion description: Attorney General Blanche’s confirmation is an urgent reminder of why we need abortion care, writes Brittany Fonteno. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/08/17/the-danger-of-todd-blanche-statements-on-abortion/ author: Brittany Fonteno article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-08-17T14:55:59.581Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-17T14:55:59.849Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Danger of Todd Blanche’s Statements on Abortion og:description: Attorney General Blanche’s confirmation is an urgent reminder of why we need abortion care, writes Brittany Fonteno. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/08/17/the-danger-of-todd-blanche-statements-on-abortion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0db8badb047e5f6f/6a7f65dc48c70d0b3fc54c79/Todd-Blanche-Aug-12.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Todd-Blanche-Aug-12.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Danger of Todd Blanche’s Statements on Abortion twitter:description: Attorney General Blanche’s confirmation is an urgent reminder of why we need abortion care, writes Brittany Fonteno. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0db8badb047e5f6f/6a7f65dc48c70d0b3fc54c79/Todd-Blanche-Aug-12.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  IDEAS Time ideas # The Danger of Todd Blanche’s Statements on Abortion > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Brittany Fonteno](https://time.com/author/brittany-fonteno/) ## Brittany Fonteno Brittany Fonteno is the president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation. Aug 17, 2026 2:55 PM UTC  Attorney General Todd Blanche during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Attorney General Todd Blanche during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. Elizabeth Frantz—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Brittany Fonteno](https://time.com/author/brittany-fonteno/) ## Brittany Fonteno Brittany Fonteno is the president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation. Aug 17, 2026 2:55 PM UTC In the early morning hours, before the sun came up on Saturday Aug. 8, the Senate [confirmed](https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll%5Fcall%5Fvotes/vote1192/vote%5F119%5F2%5F00230.htm) [Todd Blanche](https://time.com/article/2026/04/02/who-is-todd-blanche-trump-s-former-lawyer-and-the-new-acting-attorney-general-/) as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. But long before the vote, Blanche’s comments inside and outside of the confirmation process signaled an escalation of President Donald Trump’s anti-abortion agenda. In a now-deleted audio [recording](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/03/blanche-pledged-abortion-pill-crackdown-private-call-01023304) with the White House Faith Office, Blanche outlined a plan to utilize multiple agencies, including his Department of Justice and the Food and Drug Administration, to end abortion access in all 50 states. Blanche illustrated how these departments—which should work independently of the White House in service to our collective health and safety—are blurring lines in service to an agenda targeting abortion providers and patients. The National Abortion Federation, which sets clinical standards for abortion care and provides security and safety support for clinics nationwide, knows firsthand the grave dangers when checks and balances disappear within the federal government. Law enforcement is the only mechanism of accountability our current system provides for people who engage in violence and disruption at abortion clinics. While these activities are illegal under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinical Entrances (FACE) Act, the law is only as protective as the person in charge of enforcing it. Not only did Trump [pardon](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present) [violators](https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2025/01/27/abortion-protesters-pardoned-in-mt-juliet-carafem-blockade/77970952007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z1132xxp001292c001292e1132xxv001135&gca-ft=138&gca-ds=sophi) of the FACE Act, the DOJ has also [paid](https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/anti-abortion-activist-doj-settlement-trump) them with[ tax dollars](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/19/abortion-clinic-protesters-eligible-for-payouts-from-new-trump-anti-weaponization-fund-00928784) as a backwards form of restitution. Just last month, [Paul Vaughn](https://tennesseelookout.com/briefs/attorneys-for-pardoned-abortion-clinic-protestor-announce-7-figure-settlement-with-doj/) received a Trump pardon and $1 million from the DOJ after staging a blockade at a NAF member clinic in Tennessee. NAF is actively suing the DOJ to stop more payouts of this kind. But the Trump-Blanche duo has already sent a message with serious consequences. Since Trump took office, NAF’s most recent Violence and Disruption [report](https://nationalabortionfederation.org/safety-security/2025-naf-violence-disruption/) showed a 113% increase in threats of death and harm. Clinic blockades increased from one to six. While we know laws like the FACE Act are a limited means to protect people, not only is the federal government failing to meet these low bars, it's abusing the law to incentivize violence. Blanche’s confirmation is part of a larger pattern of involving law enforcement in pregnancy, including abortion care. That should scare everyone no matter what you believe. Blanche’s [commitment](https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/6008603-blanche-plans-abortion-rollback/) to work “hand in hand with the FDA” to end abortion access adds to the alarm bells. As clinical experts, we rely on peer-reviewed studies, unbiased research, and patient experience to inform NAF’s clinical guidelines for abortion care. For decades, we’ve held the FDA to these same rigorous standards when evaluating medications. Politics and police have no place in this scientific approach. When we have the freedom to follow evidence, we can innovate and improve lives. Evidence and innovation affirmed the safety and efficacy of telehealth prescriptions for abortion pills. It expanded access under a hostile landscape. Our opponents responded by moving the goalpost and expanding their attacks. Can the FDA and the DOJ—two departments typically unrelated in scope or matter— be united in a war to ban abortion? NAF members know that abortion bans come in many forms. In some places, the threat of investigations and prosecutions is enough to stop access. In other places, requiring people to travel for an abortion blocks care altogether. In the process, anti-abortion politicians are finding ways to ban abortion without ever having to pass a formal, national abortion ban. That’s why this year, on the fourth anniversary of the _Dobbs_ decision, NAF released its policy position affirming [abortion access throughout pregnancy](https://nationalabortionfederation.org/policy-positions/), and committed to opposing viability and gestational limits in abortion laws. This is not only a commitment to expanding abortion access, but it’s a fight back against anti-science and policing trends in reproductive health care. Because we know in order to protect patients and providers from the whims of a Trump-Blanche DOJ, we have to eliminate legal lines that beg for enforcement. Blanche’s confirmation is a stark reminder that expanding abortion requires proactive defense against attacks that disproportionately impact marginalized communities who already face over-policing and surveillance. Project 2025 [laid bare](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/05/project-2025-abortion) plans to declare fetuses and embryos as people with legal rights. The NAF’s prediction: Blanche will seek to advance this concept of fetal personhood in our modern legal landscape, re-entrenching a legal tug of war between a pregnant person and their fetus. Our most important tool to fight back is to ensure abortion laws protect people at all points in pregnancy, in every state. [TIME Ideas](https://www.time.com/ideas) hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. 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