North Carolina AG won't defend abortion pill restrictions

North Carolina's attorney general won’t defend state restrictions on dispensing abortion pills that are being challenged in a federal lawsuit. A general counsel for the state told Republican legislative leaders of Attorney General Josh Stein's decision Monday. The lawsuit filed by a physician says state laws and rules affecting access to the drug mifepristone are preempted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate the drug. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 to help end pregnancy and eliminated an in-person requirement for the pill. The lawsuit and others in West Virginia and Texas are considered opening salvos in legal battles over access to abortion medication.