'No basis in medical science': 12 states sue FDA over abortion pill restrictions

26 February 2023

A coalition of 12 states are suing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) arguing the regulations the agency places on the common abortion pill, mifepristone, "are not backed by evidence," NBC reports.

The lawsuit was filed in Washington State and included others that voted for President Joe Biden in 2020: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

According to NBC, the states' attorneys general behind the litigation want to "expand access to mifepristone by allowing it to be prescribed and dispensed by any doctor or pharmacy, like most drugs," as the suit states the pill "is safer than many other common drugs FDA regulates, such as Viagra and Tylenol."

Under the department's latest restrictions, doctors without a "special certification" cannot prescribe the pill, which the FDA "approved more than 20 years ago to induce first-trimester abortions," NPR reports.

"The federal government has known for years that mifepristone is safe and effective,” Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said. "In the wake of the Supreme Court’s radical decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the FDA is now exposing doctors, pharmacists and patients to unnecessary risk. The FDA’s excessive restrictions on this important drug have no basis in medical science."

Ferguson told NPR, "what we're asking the court to do is remove those restrictions and make access to this important medication more available to women across the country."

NBC's full report is available at this link. NPR's is here.

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