(The Lion) — Texas and Florida are suing the Food and Drug Administration, arguing its approval and deregulation of abortion pills “have placed women and girls in harm’s way.”
Chemical abortions, which account for nearly two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. according to the Guttmacher Institute, require taking a two-drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol.
“The former starves the child to death by blocking progesterone receptors in the uterus. The latter induces contractions to expel the child from the womb,” the lawsuit states. “These abortions also endanger the mother. Common complications include severe bleeding, undetected rupture of the fallopian tube, and sepsis.”
The lawsuit cites studies estimating that as many as 1 in 5 women who take mifepristone end up suffering a “serious adverse event” and that as many as 1 in every 25 users will end up in the emergency room.
“These are tragic but predictable consequences of prioritizing politics over public health,” reads the filing from the attorneys general of Texas and Florida.
The lawsuit details how abortion pill restrictions were narrowed or eliminated under Democratic presidents over the years, including former President Barack Obama’s removal of requirements for in-person follow ups and physician-only dispensing, as well as allowing women to take the drugs further into their pregnancies. Former President Joe Biden went further, authorizing the pills to be sent by mail across state borders.
These actions were “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, not in accordance with law, and therefore invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act,” it notes.
The FDA did not respond to a request from The Lion for comment about the lawsuit. Supporters of the abortion pill, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have called the drugs “safe and effective” and noted that they are used in two-thirds of abortions in the U.S.
“These lawsuits have nothing to do with the safety of this medication and everything to do with making it harder for people to get an abortion,” said Julia Kaye, senior staff attorney for ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project.
The FDA under the Trump administration approved a generic version of the abortion pills in September, sparking fierce criticism from pro-life groups who pointed out the administration was simultaneously still reviewing the drugs for their safety.
“It is jarring and contradictory that, at the same time that the Food and Drug Administration is conducting a much-needed review of the supposed safety of the abortion pill for women, it is nonetheless approving a new generic for this deadly drug,” Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said in a statement.
The FDA review of the abortion drugs, originally promised by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy in May, has triggered backlash from pro-lifers after Bloomberg reported the FDA is slow walking the review to put it off until after the midterm elections.
“FDA needs to stop dithering & reinstate the mifepristone safety guardrails. Nothing less is acceptable,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said, reported by the Lion.
