Missouri sues Planned Parenthood for ‘systematically’ misleading women on abortion pills

Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri. / Credit: eurobanks/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 24, 2025 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Missouri filed a lawsuit this week against the national Planned Parenthood organization, alleging that the abortion giant has “systematically misled” women about the risks associated with chemical abortion pills.

On Wednesday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office had filed a lawsuit in state circuit court against Planned Parenthood Federation of America, alleging that the corporation “systematically misled women about the dangers of chemical abortions in order to cut costs and drive up revenue at the risk of women’s health and safety.”

Bailey said the abortion provider promulgates “dangerous claims” about the drug, including claiming that it is safer than common household drugs such as Tylenol.

This is “despite FDA labeling and peer-reviewed studies” showing severe adverse events associated with the pill rising in some cases to the double digits.

Concerns about the safety of chemical abortion pills have been heightened in recent months after a bombshell study in April found that more than 10% of women who take an abortion pill will suffer “serious adverse events,” including hemorrhaging, infections, and other health crises. 

U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary said in June that his agency will conduct a review of the abortion drug mifepristone following that study and several other investigations into the safety of the pills.

The lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, a state-level consumer protection law.

Bailey’s office said the state is seeking nearly $2 million in civil penalties as well as “up to $1,000 in damages or restitution for every Missouri woman Planned Parenthood provided abortion pills to in the past five years.” The suit is also demanding paybacks into the state Medicaid system.

“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 in the release, adding: “No one is above the law, not even Planned Parenthood.”

Though the government has moved in recent months to investigate the safety of abortion pills, President Donald Trump said prior to his inauguration in January that it was his “commitment” to ensure that abortion pills remain available in the U.S.

Chemical abortions account for about half of the abortions in the United States every year.

Abortion advocates have increasingly turned to chemical abortions in the wake of the 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade. Numerous states have instituted abortion bans after that repeal, though abortion pills have remained widely available.