Florida is suing Planned Parenthood over the safety of abortion drugs. Here’s what to know

TALLAHASSEE Fla AP Florida s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood claiming the organization is misrepresenting the safety of abortion pills It is the latest legal challenge aimed at abortion pills which are the the bulk common way to end a pregnancy in the U S and which is increasingly a target for opponents of the procedure in the wake of the U S Supreme Court s decision overturning Roe v Wade In a complaint filed in a state court in Santa Rosa County on Thursday Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier claimed the arrangement of clinics is making false asserts about the safety of abortion drugs highlighting Planned Parenthood s statements the pills are safer than Tylenol Here s what to know Florida s lawsuit targets false declares about abortion drug safety Florida s lawsuit states Planned Parenthood is violating a Florida law against deceptive and unfair bargain practices and its engagements constitute racketeering a charge that was originally used to fight organized crime Planned Parenthood and its Florida operations mislead women about the critical and undeniable risks of a chemical abortion by deceptively claiming these powerful drugs are less risky than everyday pain medication the complaint reads The lawsuit seeks estimated damages of million and asks the court to consider implementing a suite of sanctions against Planned Parenthood including requiring the organization to sell off real estate bar it from providing abortions or order that the organization be dissolved In a report Planned Parenthood officers described the lawsuit as a politically motivated attack aimed at further eroding access to abortion in Florida which bans bulk abortions after six weeks of pregnancy before several women even know they are pregnant Anti-abortion lawmakers and authorities are relentless in their effort to end access to all abortion care and to stop patients from getting accurate biological information We will continue to be just as relentless in our effort to defend access to this safe effective care Susan Baker Manning general counsel for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America noted in a report adding See you in court The attorney general of Missouri filed a similar lawsuit against Planned Parenthood in July The next hearing in that situation is set for February Caroline Mala Corbin a professor who teaches constitutional law at the University of Miami School of Law mentioned it is not surprising Florida is looking for new tactics to restrict access to what has become the preferred way to end a pregnancy in the U S If this one succeeds it may become a model for other states And if it fails no doubt they ll come up with something else Corbin noted Abortion opponents test new legal strategies to restrict access Opponents of abortion are increasingly focusing on restricting access to pills which by the time the Supreme Court overturned Roe accounted for over half of all abortions typically using a combination of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol The pills are now used in nearly two-thirds of the abortions provided across the country and are prescribed via telehealth to patients in states with bans by doctors in states with laws that seek to protect them from legal scrutiny for providing such interstate care The Supreme Court decision opened the door for states to ban abortion with Republican-controlled states working to restrict access and punish people who aid abortions while Democrat-controlled states passed shield laws to protect healthcare providers Now with Texas and other states enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy and four more that bar greater part of them after the first six weeks or so of gestation the pills have become an even more essential way abortion is provided in the U S even in states that ban the procedure Last year the Supreme Court unanimously preserved access to a mifepristone ruling that abortion opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the federal Food and Drug Administration s approval of the medication Republican attorneys general are renewing the legal push after the high court sent the episode back down to a lower court in Texas The attorneys general are contending that mifepristone is too risky to be prescribed via telehealth and that the FDA should roll back approvals and tighten access Researchers find abortion drugs are generally safe Studies have unveiled mifepristone and misoprostol are generally safe and upshot in completed abortions more than of the time Diagnostic organizations supporting mifepristone s availability say the drug s safety compares to ibuprofen which more than million Americans take in any given day Since roughly million patients have taken mifepristone according to the FDA A review of agency records looking for deaths that were likely related to the drug identified or of patients In an informational page on Planned Parenthood s website the organization compares abortion drugs to other common medications Medication abortion is very safe In fact it s safer than numerous other medicines like penicillin Tylenol and Viagra Serious problems are rare but like all medicines there can be risks the comment reads