- Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit Nov. 6 against Planned Parenthood, alleging its “Safer than Tylenol” campaign misleads women about the safety of abortion drugs.
- The suit accuses Planned Parenthood of downplaying serious risks such as hemorrhaging and sepsis. The complaint cites studies that indicate up to one in five women who take abortion medication experiences adverse effects.
- Uthmeier says the campaign violates Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the state’s RICO Act. He is seeking $10,000 in penalties per abortion brought about by deception (estimated at around 35,000 cases), plus punitive damages and injunctions to stop disinformation.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, filed a lawsuit Nov. 6 against Planned Parenthood over a marketing campaign that he says lies to women about the safety of abortion drugs.
According to the complaint, Uthmeier argues that Planned Parenthood’s “Safer than Tylenol” marketing campaign has deliberately misled women and withheld critical information about the risks associated with taking abortion medication for years.
“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,” Uthmeier said in a news release. “When it comes to health and safety in Florida, we won’t tolerate blatant lies using fabricated medical ‘facts’ that have no scientific basis.”
The complaint references several studies and analyses that have found grave side effects of abortion pills. According to a study published in April, 11% of women who take abortion medication have a serious reaction, such as sepsis or hemorrhaging, within 45 days of a chemical abortion. Another study from 2009 estimated an even higher portion of women — as many as two in 10 — suffers adverse effects after taking the abortion drugs. Roughly one in 25 women who take the medication require an emergency room visit, and more than one mifepristone-related death has occurred each year, on average, since 2000, according to the complaint.
>> Study debunks widespread claim that abortion-inducing drugs are ‘safer than Tylenol’ <<
“These are inconvenient truths for Planned Parenthood, whose business model is built around high-margin chemical abortions. So rather than admit the danger of chemical abortion, Planned Parenthood lies,” the complaint states. “The abortion conglomerate not only assures its patients that abortion drugs are ‘extremely safe’ — a dubious claim itself; it repeatedly declares that abortion drugs are ‘safer than Tylenol.’”
According to the release, the attorney general claims that the misleading marketing violates the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Florida Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. Uthmeier is asking the court to require Planned Parenthood to pay a statutory penalty of $10,000 for each chemical abortion that was brought about by deceptive practices — an estimated 35,000 abortions. He also asks the court to impose other penalties, punitive damages, and injunctions to protect women from disinformation about the drugs.
The safety of Tylenol also has come under scrutiny in recent months. As CatholicVote previously reported, President Donald Trump announced Sept. 22 that his administration will issue a physician advisory and add new warning labels to acetaminophen, citing studies linking the drug’s use during pregnancy to an increased risk of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
>> Missouri AG sues Planned Parenthood for misleading women about abortion pill risks <<
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