Missouri, Kansas sue to stop government from providing abortion pill through mail

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Missouri and Kansas Attorneys General sue the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Health over the abortion pill.

The newly-filed lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop the government organizations from mailing abortion pills to women. In some states where abortion is a legal option, women are allowed to attend a virtual visit and have the abortion medication mailed. Other states require women and girls to go to a health center to receive the medication, according to Planned Parenthood.

The lawsuit claims that the FDA is responsible for protecting the health and safety of all Americans. Bailey argues that includes protecting women and girls against the abortion pill.

Bailey’s lawsuit says the FDA chose politics over science when it approved generic mifepristone, also known as the abortion pill. The lawsuit claims the drug is untested and can harm women who take it.

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The FDA approved the use of the medication in 2000. In 2021 and 2023, the FDA allowed the drugs to be mailed to women.

“Unelected federal bureaucrats do not have the statutory authority to approve the shipment of these dangerous chemical abortion drugs in the mail,” Missouri Attorney General Bailey said. “The FDA’s guidance is not only unlawful, but would cost the lives of both women and their unborn children. I am proud to be leading a coalition of states to halt the FDA’s illegal federal overreach in its tracks.”

Planned Parenthood argues that the medication is a safe alternative for those who have made the choice to seek an abortion. The organization says it is effective and can be taken up to 11 weeks into a pregnancy.

Last week a judge put a new Kansas law on medication abortions on hold and blocked older restrictions that for years have spelled out what providers must tell patients and forced patients to wait 24 hours to end their pregnancies.

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The ruling was another big victory for abortion rights advocates in Kansas, where a statewide vote in August 2022 decisively confirmed protections for abortion access under the state constitution. District Judge K. Christopher Jayaram’s order suspends some restrictions that have been in effect for years. The waiting period had been in place since 1997.