Missouri Says Planned Parenthood Is Lying About Pill Safety (1)

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) sued Planned Parenthood Federation of America, accusing it of lying about risks posed by abortion pills such as mifepristone.

The complaint filed Wednesday in the Missouri Circuit Court, Cole County, said PPFA “brazenly” claims that abortion-inducing medications are as safe as Tylenol and penicillin, while they actually regularly land “women in the emergency room.” PPFA’s alleged lies are motivated by a desire to cut costs and increase revenue, according to Bailey.

Anti-abortion activists have been attacking both mifepristone and Planned Parenthood for several years. Mifepristone is the most popular medication used to terminate pregnancies during the first 10 weeks of gestation. To date, these attacks have centered on the federal Food and Drug Administration’s marketing approval for the drug.

Though defunding Planned Parenthood is a goal of the right, this appears to be the first lawsuit accusing the group of “concealing” high risks posed by the medication.

“It is no surprise that this meritless lawsuit is being brought by an attorney general who has repeatedly spread lies and disinformation to push his own anti-abortion agenda,” said Danika Severino Wynn, vice president of abortion access at PPFA. “This case is about one thing: Attorney General Bailey once again trying to block safe, constitutionally-protected abortion access in Missouri.”

“Mifepristone is safe, effective, and has been used by more than 7.5 million people in the U.S. for abortion and miscarriage care since the FDA approved it 25 years ago,” Wynn added. “It has allowed patients to make their own private medical decisions, and expanded access to reproductive health care—something that is very clearly under threat in this country and in Missouri.”

The complaint said PPFA’s allegedly dishonest advertising violates the state’s consumer-protection law, known as the Missouri Merchandising Protection Act. The law authorizes the attorney general to bring an action against any person who appears to have “engaged in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in any method, act, use, practice or solicitation, or any combination thereof” that’s unlawful under the statute.

Planned Parenthood has distributed false claims about the safety of abortion-inducing pills on its website, direct mailings, emails, press releases, public statements legislative testimony, and court documents, according to the complaint. Some of these materials have directed people to contact the umbrella group’s Missouri affiliates for medication abortions, and people have done so in reliance on the safety claims, it said.

The state seeks damages of up to $1.8 million, based on $1,000 per day for every day over the past five years that PPFA has violated Missouri law; restitution of up to $1,000 per day for every woman in Cole County to whom PPFA provided an abortion-inducing pill in the last five years; damages or restitution of up to $1,000 per day for every person in Missouri to whom PPFA has provided an abortion-inducing pill in the past five years; restitution to the state for emergency medical expenses it incurred as a result; punitive damages; and an order blocking PPFA from continuing to make false statements about the medication.

Missouri voters enshrined a right to reproductive health care in the state’s constitution in November 2024. The amendment prohibits the government from denying or interfering with “a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” including “abortion care” up to 24 weeks.

State lawmakers, however, are trying to walk that back by putting an abortion ban measure on the next state-wide ballot.

Planned Parenthood has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg Law is operated by entities controlled by Michael Bloomberg.

The case is Missouri ex rel. Bailey v. Planned Parenthood Fed’n of Am., Mo. Cir. Ct., No. unavailable, filed 7/23/25.