Washington AG affirms safety of abortion drug mifepristone amid FDA review

SEATTLE, Wash. — Attorney General Nick Brown, along with 19 other attorneys general, has issued a joint statement affirming the safety and accessibility of the medical abortion drug mifepristone.

The statement addresses concerns over a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review prompted by a letter from Republican state attorneys general calling for restrictions or withdrawal of the drug.

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“For more than 25 years, mifepristone has been used safely and effectively in the United States and globally,” the statement reads. “It is currently the most common method for early-term abortion care in the United States and is the standard of care for managing early miscarriage.”

The attorneys general criticized the decision to reexamine access to mifepristone, describing it as a response to a “scientifically baseless letter” that ignores decades of research proving the drug’s safety and efficacy. They emphasized that “medical decisions should be left between patients, their families, and their providers—and they should be guided by science, not political agendas.”

The statement also highlighted the responsibility of state attorneys general to enforce state laws and protect residents’ access to reproductive care. “If access to mifepristone is challenged, we will take action to protect it,” the statement said.

Since its FDA approval in 2000, mifepristone, in combination with misoprostol, has been the only FDA-approved regimen for ending an early pregnancy. The safety and efficacy of medication abortion are supported by hundreds of scientific studies, with more than 7.5 million women in the U.S. having safely used mifepristone for abortion care or miscarriage management.

Data from the Washington State Department of Health indicates that of nearly 30,000 medication abortions provided in Washington in 2023 and 2024, fewer than 0.2% resulted in complications severe enough to require hospitalization.

Joining Brown in the statement are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.