Attorney General Ford Urges Federal Judge to Unravel Restrictions on Mifepristone

Carson City, NV - Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has urged a federal judge in Spokane, Washington, to rule that the FDA's severe restrictions on the abortion medication mifepristone are unlawful and order the federal agency to reconsider their regulation of the drug. Earlier today, a multistate coalition of attorneys general filed a summary judgment motion in their case accusing the FDA of singling out mifepristone for excessively burdensome regulation.

"I will continue to protect the bodily autonomy of women and the right for Nevadans to seek health care that is appropriate for their needs," said AG Ford. "Today's motion for summary judgment is the next step in bringing this regulatory scheme - in which mifepristone is unfairly and unnecessarily singled out - to an end."

Last year, AG Ford joined the multistate lawsuit led by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Judge Thomas O. Rice already granted the AGs' 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.

The summary judgment motion, filed late Thursday, argues 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. 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.

The FDA's strict requirements hamper access to safe reproductive care. The stigma and administrative burdens associated with becoming "specially certified" to prescribe and dispense an abortion medication deters many health care providers and pharmacies from signing up to do so in the first place. The certification requirement for providers and pharmacists also opens them up to potential liability if they serve patients from other states that have restrictive abortion laws.

Review the summary judgment.

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