Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has joined a multistate lawsuit that challenges what it describes as "burdensome" restrictions on one of the drugs used in medication abortions.
Eighteen states are part of the lawsuit, which alleges that the Food and Drug Administration erred when it included mifepristone in a category of riskier drugs when the agency approved its use more than two decades ago.
As a result, attorneys general say prescribing the drug is unnecessarily complicated and exposes patients and providers to privacy and safety risks, which have been exacerbated by the growing criminalization of abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade.
The lawsuit says mifepristone has fewer side effects than Tylenol and Viagra. It's asking a federal court to find the FDA's restrictions illegal. It's also seeking an injunction to halt enforcing restrictions while the case is pending.
Mifepristone is also the subject of a lawsuit in Texas from abortion rights opponents, who are challenging the FDA's approval and seeking to remove it from the nationwide market.
