Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford speaks to the Las Vegas Sun editorial board Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022.
Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 | 12:06 p.m.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford announced today he is joining attorneys general from 11 states in filing a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration claiming the agency has posed excessively burdensome regulations on a drug commonly used in medication abortions.
The lawsuit, led by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
The suit asserts the FDA exceeded its authority and violated the constitutional principle of equal protection for people to acquire mifepristone, one of a two-medication regimen used to terminate early term pregnancies.
Mifepristone is one of 60 substances the FDA regulates under a set of restrictions known as Risk Evaluation & Mitigation Strategies, or REMS, according to a news release from Ford’s office.
The REMS classification means health care providers must be certified by the drug distributor in advance of prescribing mifepristone. To receive the prescription, patients and providers must sign an agreement that certifies the patient has decided to end their pregnancy, regardless of its use. A copy of this agreement must be included in the patient’s medical records.
Additionally, pharmacies must also be specially certified before they can fill a prescription, according to Ford’s office.
The lawsuit argues these restrictions pose an “unduly burdensome, harmful and unnecessary” risk to those who would take or prescribe this medication on the grounds it could expose them to violence, harassment or legal action if they live in a state where the practice is outlawed.
“While our country continues to grapple with the fact that abortion rights were stripped away from many Americans, we must stand against actions that would further restrict this right,” Ford said in a statement. “The FDA’s regulations regarding mifepristone do not protect those seeking abortions, but they do make reproductive health care harder to access.”
The lawsuit notes that mifepristone is associated with fewer side effects and deaths than common medications like Tylenol or Viagra — neither of which are regulated under REMS restrictions. The FDA has attributed no deaths to mifepristone since it was approved for use in 2000.
Last week, Ford’s office announced he was among attorneys general from 24 states who signed a letter applauding commercial pharmaceutical chains CVS and Walgreens for beginning to offer medication abortions.
In addition to abortions, however, the FDA notes mifepristone and misoprostol, when used in tandem, can also be used to treat miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and gastric ulcers.
That letter was issued in response to a group of conservative attorneys general who oppose access to medicated abortion.
Last month, those conservative attorneys general sent a letter to CVS and Walgreens warning of legal repercussions if the pharmacies went through with dispensing the drugs by mail.
Along with Oregon, Washington and Nevada, attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont also joined the lawsuit.
Earlier this month, Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, introduced a bill seeking legal protections for out-of-state abortion patients and abortion providers. The bill would shield them from legal action in states where the procedure is outlawed.
The measure, Senate Bill 131, would codify an executive order issued by former Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, in June after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn the landmark precedent establishing the right to an abortion in the 1973 case Roe v. Wade.
The bill will almost certainly clear both chambers of the Legislature, as Democrats hold a supermajority in the Assembly and a 13-8 edge in the state Senate. The Assembly Democratic Caucus has signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.
Should it clear the Legislature, it would set up a possible clash with first-term Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who changed his stance on overturning Sisolak’s executive order while on the campaign trail.
Lombardo, who positioned himself as a pro-life candidate and earned endorsements from several anti-abortion groups, initially said if elected, he would overturn the executive order. Lombardo last week said in an interview with KNPR-FM he would sign a “clean” version of the bill.
Nevada passed a measure in 1990 protecting abortion in the Silver State until 24 weeks gestation. The law could only be repealed if a voter initiative was passed.
