Missouri attorney general takes new legal aim at mail-order abortion pills over safety concerns
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has announced a significant expansion of the state’s efforts to combat the distribution of mail-order abortion pills, specifically targeting a newly approved generic version of mifepristone produced by Evita Solutions. Hanaway argues that this drug poses serious health risks to women, citing alarming statistics that indicate a considerable number of women experience life-threatening complications after taking mifepristone. The attorney general’s lawsuit, filed in conjunction with Kansas and Idaho, challenges the FDA’s recent approval, claiming that the decision undermines essential medical safeguards that were previously in place. Hanaway emphasized that the drug’s risks are well-documented and have only worsened with ongoing studies, asserting that the current approval process lacks the necessary in-person medical evaluations that can identify dangerous conditions like ectopic pregnancies.
The legal action highlights a broader concern among Republican lawmakers regarding the FDA’s perceived rollback of safety standards surrounding abortion medications. Federal law traditionally prohibits the mailing of abortion drugs, yet a network of telehealth providers has emerged, facilitating access to these pills without in-person consultations. Hanaway’s filing seeks to restore pre-2016 safety protocols, which mandated face-to-face medical assessments, and aims to halt the distribution of abortion pills across state lines in violation of federal regulations. During a recent press call, Senator Josh Hawley echoed these concerns, calling for the FDA to reassess its partnerships with drug manufacturers and to reinstate safety measures that protect women’s health. The controversy surrounding mifepristone and its generic counterparts continues to fuel a heated debate over abortion access and medical safety, as states like Missouri push back against what they view as dangerous practices in the pharmaceutical industry.
Missouri Attorney General
Catherine Hanaway announced Thursday she is expanding the state’s fight against mail-order abortion pills, targeting a recently approved generic version of mifepristone that she argues sends women to hospitals with “life-threatening complications” and is being pushed into the marketplace without “basic medical safeguards.”
The filing challenges the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Sept. 30 approval of a
generic mifepristone
produced by Evita Solutions, arguing that the drug’s risks are “well-documented and worsening with further study.”
The lawsuit alleges manufacturers have relied on “weakened safety standards” that were “originally designed to catch dangerous conditions such as ectopic pregnancies,” which can only be identified through an in-person medical exam.
“Mifepristone is sending women to the hospital with life-threatening complications, and yet drug companies continue pushing new versions of it into the market without basic medical safeguards,” Hanaway said. “Mail-order abortion drugs are dangerous when taken without in-person care, and Missouri will not stand by while manufacturers gamble with women’s lives.”
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The case builds on Missouri’s multi-state challenge to what officials allege is the
FDA’s “dismantling of critical safety protections”
surrounding mifepristone.
Federal law has long banned the mailing of abortion drugs, yet distributors and telehealth networks have built a nationwide system that delivers the pills to women in every state, often without in-person medical screenings or follow-up care.
Missouri, joined by Kansas and Idaho, is asking the court to block the new approval, restore pre-2016 safety standards that required in-person medical evaluations and stop drugmakers and distributors from mailing abortion pills nationwide in violation of federal law.
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Hanaway pointed to the drug’s labeling, which notes that roughly 1 in 25 women who take
chemical abortion drugs
end up in the emergency room and many suffer hemorrhaging, infection or require surgery. She said complications are even more common when the pills come through the mail without medical oversight.
“No caring physician would call mifepristone ‘as safe as Tylenol,’” she said. “That claim was always false. Women are ending up in emergency rooms, and manufacturers know it. If the FDA is reevaluating the brand-name drug’s safety, then it needs to stop rubber-stamping new mail-order generic versions before more women are hurt.”
Hanaway’s filing comes as Republican lawmakers in Washington continue pressing the FDA to tighten
oversight of abortion pills
and restore safety guardrails rolled back in recent years.
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During a recent press call, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., urged the FDA to “follow the science to put back safety guardrails” and questioned the agency’s partnerships with abortion-pill manufacturers, including Evita Solutions, the company behind the generic drug targeted in Hanaway’s lawsuit.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said he and other
Republican senators
have demanded answers from the FDA about its decision to approve the new drug but have yet to receive a response.
Evita Solutions did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno contributed to this report.
