Missouri, Kansas, and Idaho have renewed efforts to restrict access to the abortion drug mifepristone by filing a joint amended lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The states’ attorneys general are requesting to ban the drug’s use after seven weeks of pregnancy instead of 10 and require three in-person doctors’ office visits before people can access the drug.
The big picture: The lawsuit also challenges the FDA’s approval of generic versions of the drug, arguing that mifepristone is dangerous and leading women in these states to the emergency room.
- Medication abortions involve the use of two drugs successively: mifepristone, which stops the pregnancy, and misoprostol, which induces contractions. The FDA and several medical groups have deemed the drug safe.
Driving the news: Since the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022, the use of medication abortions in the US has increased, with medication abortions accounting for 53% of all abortions in 2020 and growing to 63% by 2023.
- Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that federal rules around the drug’s use seek to undermine state abortion laws and enforcement, with claims that abortion pills are flooding states like Missouri and Idaho.
- Abortion is nearly completely banned in both Missouri and Idaho except for cases where the mother’s life is in danger.
