Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood on Wednesday, July 23. The suit alleges the group lied to patients about the potential risks of the abortion drug mifepristone.
Bailey argues Planned Parenthood’s claims violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive business practices. He claimed the group has misled women in order to “cut costs” and “drive up revenue” while risking women’s health.
“The national Planned Parenthood organization is actively endangering the lives of women and girls across the country by spreading lies and disinformation about the powerful chemical abortion drug,” Bailey said in a press release.
How safe is mifepristone?
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Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion pill usage rose from 53% in 2020 to 63% in 2023.
In his release, Bailey said more than 4.5% of women who take mifepristone end up in the hospital. This claim is likely from the official prescribing label of the drug, which says up to 4.6% of users visited the emergency room after taking the drug. Proponents of the medication argue that the statistic doesn’t necessarily mean serious complications, since the drug label includes minor or precautionary checks.
According to a study published in 2021 in the New England Journal of Medicine, serious complication rates were rare, at less than 0.1%. A non-peer-reviewed study published in May found that the risk of serious adverse events was nearly 11%. However, critics have said this study is flawed.
Health policy research group KFF noted several issues with the study: it wasn’t peer reviewed, exaggerated expected effects as serious complications, it prioritized billing claims over clinical accuracy and it withheld its complete data sheet, preventing independent validation.
Is mifepristone safer than Tylenol?
Bailey said Planned Parenthood tells its patients that the drug is as safe as Tylenol. On the group’s website, it claims mifepristone is safer than Tylenol. However, this claim is misleading.
Mifepristone poses a very low risk of overdose since it is prescribed as a single dose. In contrast, Tylenol can be taken multiple times a day as an over-the-counter medication. Because of that, it’s easier to overdose and need medical attention. In fact, Tylenol overdose is the leading cause of acute liver failure, with an estimated 30,000 hospitalizations and up to 500 deaths annually.
However, if Tylenol is used correctly, it’s as safe as using mifepristone, not less safe.
What is Bailey’s lawsuit seeking?
Bailey’s lawsuit seeks over $1.8 million in civil penalties, citing daily violations of state law. He is also requesting up to $1,000 for each Missouri woman who used the drug in the past five years, state reimbursement and a court order to prevent the group from continuing to promote their claims.
“The lies must stop. We’re holding the national Planned Parenthood entity accountable for the lies it tells women in Missouri and across the nation,” Bailey said. “No one is above the law, not even Planned Parenthood.”
