Anti-abortion group threatens to sue FDA over mifepristone

The anti-abortion group Students for Life of America on Thursday filed a notice of intent to sue the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over alleged inaction over the Endangered Species Act, an escalation of the group’s years-long effort to use environmental laws to restrict abortion drugs.

The organization alleges more than 50 tons of medical waste are flushed into water systems each year as a result of abortion drugs, causing significant environmental harm. Environmental scientists dispute that.

“The FDA has ignored environmental law, failing to do the water testing needed to show that dumping tons of mifepristone-poisoned waste into our water isn’t risking the lives and fertility of endangered species, and there are more than 1,500 protected creatures in all 50 states,” Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins said in a statement.

According to the group’s attorneys at First & Fourteenth, the Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before taking any action that may affect a listed or threatened species.

The attorneys said FDA did not consult the service about potential endangered species before approving mifepristone and later allowing it to be prescribed by telemedicine and delivered by mail.

“The scientific literature shows that mifepristone in water has adverse effects on wildlife, but the FDA never consulted on the matter. That means FDA’s actions for mifepristone, including approving abortion by mail, are void,” First & Fourteenth said in a statement.

The group argued that FDA has not acted to address harm from mifepristone to more than 1,500 protected species in all 50 states.

The notice of intent to sue gives the FDA 60 days to take specific actions requested by Students for Life of America before the group considers suing, including performing environmental testing and pulling mifepristone from the market while the tests are being conducted. They also want a commitment from the agency to not approve any additional labels for mifepristone, including allowing it for miscarriage care.

Medication has become the most common method of abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and limiting the availability of the pills — which women usually take at home in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy — has become a major focus of the anti-abortion movement.

The group filed its notice just ahead of the confirmation hearing of Heidi Overton, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Overton has previously criticized abortion and called for more restrictions on mifepristone.

At the same time, a coalition of 50 anti-abortion groups, including Students for Life, released a joint statement calling on Overton to commit to rolling back Biden-era changes that eased access to mifepristone, including virtual prescribing and allowing pharmacists to dispense it.

“All of this is happening on President Trump’s watch, despite major advances in recent years in the prolife movement, not the least of which was the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” they wrote.