Democratic Attorneys General Sue the FDA to Drop “Onerous” Abortion Pill Restrictions
Mother JonesFeb 27, 2023
The Facts
A lawsuit filed Thursday by a dozen Democratic Party-led US states, led by Washington and Oregon, challenges federal restrictions put on mifepristone, the abortion pill, by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont are also part of the suit, which seeks to make mifepristone more widely available by allowing any doctor or pharmacy to prescribe and dispense it.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Mifepristone has an impeccable safety record, and there is no reason for the FDA to subject it to the same strict restrictions as several high-risk medications, which are usually opioids or anti-psychotic sedatives. In a post-Roe world, women need access to the gold standard in medical abortion, and they’re being put in danger by the FDA’s tight rules.
Republican narrative
Democrats refer to mifepristone as a medication but conveniently leave out the fact that it leads to the death of an unborn child, not to mention the impact it has on a woman’s body. Since mifepristone could be as dangerous as some of the other drugs the FDA holds to similar standards, this suit is based on an inaccurate description of the pill. It's a risky way for these states to flout newfound abortion regulations since the end of Roe.