KIMBERLY BIRD: Florida’s Lawsuit Against Planned Parenthood Just The Beginning

This month, Florida Attorney General James Ulthmier filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood for false advertising.

Not over a billing dispute or a sloppy ad claim. Instead, the country’s largest abortion provider has been telling women that its ‘product’—specifically the abortion pill drugs mifepristone and misoprostol — is ‘as safe as taking a Tylenol.’”

The truth is far more serious.

As a Florida mother of four daughters, I’m relieved to see our state officials recognize the increased risks of taking the abortion pill and the life that it ends inside the womb. Planned Parenthood should be held accountable for deceiving women and killing their preborn children. Furthermore, the FDA should take note and remove its approval of all abortion drugs and review these risks in-depth for the safety of all women.

The Florida lawsuit claims that Planned Parenthood’s campaign to induce women to purchase abortion drugs by misrepresenting the risks of chemical abortion violates the Florida law. The gross misrepresentation of a drug designed intentionally to take the life of a preborn child can be found on Planned Parenthood’s website, in printed materials, and in television advertisements. In fact, the organization claims that chemical abortion is “extremely safe” in all its descriptions.

However, the data suggests otherwise.

A recent analysis from the Ethics and Public Policy Center of hundreds of thousands of insurance claims shows one in 10 women suffer severe complications within 45 days of taking mifepristone. We’re talking about things like hemorrhaging, infections, or even sepsis, which can turn deadly fast. That’s 22 times higher than what the prescription label claims. Doesn’t sound like Tylenol to me.

Chemical abortion involves two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. The first pill starves the developing baby; the second forces the mother’s body to deliver her dead child through hours of violent cramping and bleeding, often far worse than the “mild period” symptoms Planned Parenthood describes. Post-abortive testimonials say they were lied to, left alone on bathroom floors, terrified and hemorrhaging, some permanently scarred or sterilized.

Planned Parenthood’s lies are a deliberate cover-up for the violence they knowingly inflict. By denying the scientific fact that life begins at conception, they not only hurt women with these drugs, but also take the innocent life in the womb. And abortion pill access is easier than ever, even in our pro-life state.

Due to the Biden administration’s elimination of nearly all safeguards, abortion drugs are now sent through the mail with no requirement for an in-person exam, ultrasound, or follow-up care. Furthermore, there are no regulations governing where or to whom these pills are distributed. Women, many of them minors, are left alone to bleed out in their bathrooms, risking their health and future fertility, all while Planned Parenthood cashes in on another customer.

The Florida lawsuit is a crucial step in the process, but we can’t stop here. This filing should be a wake-up call to the FDA, acting as a catalyst for the new HHS leadership to finally review the abortion pill’s risks as promised. Planned Parenthood must be held fully accountable for deceiving women and killing their preborn children. The FDA should immediately remove its approval of all abortion drugs and conduct a thorough, unbiased review for the safety of every mother and the protection of every child.

This bold action by Attorney General Uthmeier builds on the courageous leadership of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made Florida a national beacon for protecting pre-born life over the past several years. From signing the 15-week protection in 2022 to boldly enacting the Heartbeat Protection Act in 2023, banning abortion after six weeks, when a baby’s heartbeat can already be detected, DeSantis has stood unapologetically for the most vulnerable among us. He fought tirelessly against the radical Amendment 4 last year, which would have stripped away nearly all protections for pre-born children and allowed abortion on demand up to birth in many cases.

Thanks to DeSantis’ leadership and the efforts of pro-life Floridians, Amendment 4 was defeated, falling short of the required 60% even as the abortion industry poured millions into deceiving voters.

Yet the abortion lobby is still attempting a run-around of our laws by flooding Florida with mail-order pills and out-of-state telehealth prescriptions. Chemical abortion already accounts for more than 60% of all abortions nationwide. If we allow these dangerous drugs to flow unchecked into our state, we will undo everything Florida families have fought for.

That’s why this lawsuit matters. That’s why Secretary Kennedy’s promise to re-examine the abortion pill’s risks matters. And that’s why we must keep pushing until these drugs are removed from the market entirely.

In his X post about the lawsuit, Attorney General Uthmeier said, “We stand by our women.” But Planned Parenthood does not.

Here in the ‘Free State of Florida,’ under leaders like DeSantis and Uthmeier, we will keep leading the nation by exposing the lies of the abortion industry, defending women and their innocent children, and fostering a culture of life, because every human life from conception is sacred and deserves protection.

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Kimberly Bird is a communications specialist at Live Action, one of the nation’s leading human rights organizations. She lives in Florida with her husband and four children. 

 The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Screen Capture/CSPAN)