Three state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over its approval of “risky, untested” mail-order abortion pills.
The attorneys general of Missouri, Kansas and Idaho filed the 105-page lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on November 6, 2023.
The lawsuit seeks to block the FDA’s,
- 2016 rollback of most of the safety precautions the FDA put in place when it approved mifepristone in 2000;
- 2019 FDA approval of generic mifepristone; and
- 2021 and 2023 policy allowing these drugs to be sent by mail.
“The FDA has the statutory responsibility to protect the health, safety, and welfare of all Americans by rejecting or limiting the use of drugs dangerous to the public,” the lawsuit says, adding,
The FDA has failed in this responsibility. Specifically, it failed America’s women and girls when it chose politics over science and approved risky, untested chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States. And it has continued to fail them by turning a blind eye to these harms and repeatedly removing even the most basic precautionary requirements associated with the use of these risking drugs.
In a press release after the lawsuit was filed, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said that unelected federal bureaucrats “do not have the statutory authority to approve the shipment of dangerous chemical abortion drugs in the mail,” adding,
The FDA’s guidance is not only unlawful but would cost the lives of both women and their unborn children.
The state of Missouri requested the district court combine the lawsuit with an existing case pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA.
In an initial ruling on the case, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk halted the FDA’s 2000 approval of the mifepristone, one of two drugs used in the “abortion pill” regimen, in an April 7, 2023, ruling.
After Judge Kacsmaryk issued his ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit partially reversed his decision, while maintaining significant restrictions on the abortion pill’s use.
Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed (stopped) the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, directing that the abortion pill remain on the market – and the FDA’s rules stay in place – while the case plays out.
You can read more about that lawsuit here.
A chemical abortion involves two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, which are usually taken 48 hours apart. Mifepristone blocks the pregnancy hormone progesterone, which preborn babies need to grow and survive. Subsequently, misoprostol causes uterine contractions and a forced early miscarriage.
The abortion pill is now the most common method of abortion in the United States, with at least 54% of abortion done via “medication” abortion, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute.
The Daily Citizen will keep you updated of important developments in these cases.
The new case is Missouri v. U.S. FDA.
If you are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy and want to learn more about your options, visit My Choice Network.
Focus on the Family has been working to turn the cultural tide and save mothers and babies from abortion for years. Since beginning the Option Ultrasound Program in 2004, Focus has helped save nearly half a million lives.
Our goal is to save one million babies by 2025. Just $60 will save a life through Option Ultrasound. Will you partner with us to save a life from abortion here?
Related articles and resources:
Become an Option Ultrasound Life Advocate
Dealing With Unplanned Pregnancy
Here’s the Secret Pro-Abortion Activists Won’t Tell You About the Abortion Pill: It’s Dangerous
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