Dec 10 (Reuters) - Texas and Florida have launched the latest lawsuit seeking to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone, following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of a new generic version.In the lawsuit, filed late Tuesday in Wichita Falls, Texas, federal court, the states’ Republican attorneys general argue that the FDA has failed to thoroughly evaluate the drug’s safety and effectiveness since its initial approval in 2000 and disregarded the risks to the women who take it.“These are tragic but predictable consequences of prioritizing politics over public health,” the states said in the complaint.The FDA’s September 30 approval of Evita Solutions’ generic version of mifepristone by an agency now overseen by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has fueled outrage among conservatives. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the time said the agency is legally required to approve generics that are identical to their brand-name counterparts.The lawsuit challenges the initial 2000 approval and approval of Evita’s generic. The states also claim that regulations adopted under Democratic former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden expanding access to mifepristone are unlawful. The lawsuit alleges that the FDA’s actions were arbitrary and capricious, contrary to federal law or beyond the agency’s powers in violation of the federal Administrative Procedure Act.The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Evita’s website says it “believes that all people should have access to safe, affordable, high-quality, effective, and compassionate healthcare, including abortion care.”Two-Drug Regimen Mifepristone is the first pill, followed by the drug misoprostol, used for medication abortion in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, and is used in more than 60% of U.S. abortions.The claims in the new lawsuit are similar to those made in a separate case by Missouri, Kansas and Idaho. Texas, Florida and Louisiana had sought to join that case, but U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas in September said that request was moot when he transferred the lawsuit to St. Louis federal court.That lawsuit was first filed in 2022 by a group of anti-abortion groups and doctors, but the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024 found they did not have the necessary legal standing to challenge the FDA’s regulation of mifepristone.The Supreme Court overturned a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that had rolled back FDA regulations easing how the drug is prescribed and distributed. The 5th Circuit, which would hear any appeals in the lawsuit by Texas and Florida, had also ruled at the time that a challenge to the 2000 approval of mifepristone was untimely.Missouri, Kansas and Idaho, which had intervened in the case, dropped the claim about the 2000 approval but pressed forward with arguments that the FDA acted improperly when it eased restrictions on mifepristone, including by allowing it to be prescribed remotely and dispensed by mail. They have moved to amend the lawsuit to also challenge the recent approval of Evita’s generic.The case is Florida v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, No.7:25-cv-00126. For the states: Jason Muehlhoff, Jeffrey DeSousa and Samuel Elliott of the Florida Attorney General’s office; Amy Hilton and Katherine Pitcher of the Texas Attorney General’s office. For the FDA: U.S. Department of Justice.Close