Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a sweeping lawsuit Thursday against Planned Parenthood, accusing the abortion giant of making false medical claims that abortion pills are “safer than Tylenol.” The state alleges this misleading marketing endangers women and violates Florida’s laws against deceptive business practices.
Uthmeier condemned Planned Parenthood’s actions in a statement: “It is vile that Planned Parenthood cares more about lining their pockets than providing women with factual information about the health risks of chemical abortion drugs.”
The complaint, filed in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court, claims the organization knowingly promoted a false safety narrative surrounding mifepristone, the first drug used in a two-part chemical abortion regimen. The lawsuit cites Planned Parenthood’s online statement comparing abortion pills to over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol, penicillin, and Viagra—calling them “very safe.” Florida’s legal filing charges that such comparisons are deceptive and amount to racketeering.
The lawsuit also references a 2023 study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which found that serious complications—including hemorrhaging, sepsis, and infection—occurred in 10.93% of women following mifepristone use, a rate dramatically higher than the FDA’s reported figure of less than 0.5%. The findings are based on insurance data from nearly 866,000 chemical abortions between 2017 and 2023.
Florida is seeking up to $350 million in damages and is asking the court to consider severe penalties—including the forced sale of Planned Parenthood property, the revocation of its license to perform abortions, or even corporate dissolution.
Planned Parenthood dismissed the lawsuit as a politically motivated stunt. “We will continue to be just as relentless in our effort to defend access to this safe, effective care,” said general counsel Susan Baker Manning.
The case follows a similar complaint filed by Missouri’s attorney general and intensifies the legal and political fight over the widespread use of abortion pills in America, which accounted for 63% of all U.S. abortions in 2023.
