Attorney General Tong Urges Federal Judge to Strike Unnecessary Restrictions on Mifepristone

Press Releases

10/11/2024

Attorney General Tong Urges Federal Judge to Strike Unnecessary Restrictions on Mifepristone

(Hartford, CT) — In a motion filed late Thursday, Attorney General William Tong and a coalition of 17 other attorneys general urge a federal judge in Washington state to strike unnecessary and severe restrictions imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the abortion medication mifepristone.

The attorneys general argue that the FDA is well aware of decades of data conclusively showing that mifepristone is safe and effective, and that medical experts have long opposed the FDA’s restrictions on the drug. Of the 20,000 FDA approved drugs, there are only 73 drug programs with similar restrictions to mifepristone. By keeping the restrictions on mifepristone, the states argue that the FDA is unnecessarily and unlawfully limiting access to a drug that is safer than Tylenol, Viagra and insulin, none of which have similar restrictions. The motion for summary judgement urges the court to find the restrictions unlawful, and to order the FDA to draft new regulations.

“Mifepristone is safer than Tylenol. We have more than 20 years of clear and conclusive scientific evidence proving that. We’re asking the judge now to cut to the chase—to strike the needless political red tape and order new rules based on science and safety,” said Attorney General Tong.

Mifepristone is safe and accessible in Connecticut. Attorney General William Tong issued Formal Opinion 2023-03 clarifying the status of the abortion drug mifepristone, in light of various federal court rulings.

Attorney General Tong is among 18 attorneys general in a multistate lawsuit filed last year in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Judge Thomas O. Rice granted the states’ request for a preliminary injunction in April of 2023, barring the FDA from doing anything to reduce the availability of the medication abortion drug mifepristone in the 17 states and the District of Columbia.

In his ruling granting their request for a preliminary injunction, Judge Rice found that the FDA likely did not follow the requirements in the law when it placed the severe restrictions on mifepristone.

The preliminary injunction in the case came on the same day that a judge in Texas stayed the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned the Texas ruling earlier this year in Food & Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. This case has proceeded in federal court in Washington while the Texas case was appealed up to the Supreme Court.

Attorneys general for Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Washington, D.C. also joined the case.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

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