Attorney General Nick Brown joined 16 states and the District of Columbia, requesting the Food and Drug Administration to remove “burdensome” restrictions.
SEATTLE — Washington has joined a petition with 16 other states, requesting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove restrictions on mifepristone.
Attorney General Nick Brown announced Wednesday that the state would be joining the petition, and the group submitted data on the safety of mifepristone.
Mifepristone is the one of the most commonly used drugs in medication abortions in the U.S. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over half of all abortions in the U.S. in 2022 were medication abortions.
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The group said data provided by the Washington Department of Health showed that about 30,000 abortions with mifepristone were provided in the state in 2023 and 2024. The press release also added that complications that required medical attention were below 0.2%.
“Mifepristone has been safely used by millions of women in this country over the last 25 years,” Brown said in a press release. “In a post-Dobbs world, we should be removing unnecessary barriers to reproductive health care in states that protect abortion so people have the freedom to plan when and whether to have a family.
The FDA currently has multiple requirements before patients can be prescribed the drug. These include:
- A medical provider must be a registered prescriber of mifepristone
- Pharmacies that dispense mifepristone must obtain a certification for the drug
- Patients must sign a Patient Agreement Form, agreeing to voluntarily terminate their pregnancy
According to the press release, Washington included grievances from physicians in the state. They believe the current requirements leave providers to be targeted by anti-abortion individuals and groups.
The states in the petition are asking the FDA to remove the restrictions on the drug. In the press release, they said an alternative would be for the FDA to stop enforcing the regulations in their specific states due to “robust regulatory schemes” already in place.
A copy of the petition is available to view here.
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