Pro-life group files notice of intent to sue FDA over alleged failure to assess mifepristone's environmental effects

Students for Life of America filed a notice of intent to sue the FDA on Thursday, arguing the agency violated the Endangered Species Act by never consulting two federal wildlife agencies — the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service — before approving mifepristone in 2000. The notice was filed hours before Dr. Heidi Overton was scheduled to appear before the Senate for her confirmation hearing to lead the FDA.

SFLA President Kristan Hawkins told Fox News Digital that the group is giving the FDA 60 days to respond before it proceeds with a formal lawsuit. Prior to this notice, SFLA had filed 11 citizen petitions with the agency on related grounds. In January 2025, five days before President Trump's second term began, the FDA rejected one such petition, stating it was not required to consult the wildlife agencies before approving mifepristone.

The notice cites six studies to support its claim that mifepristone may pose environmental risks warranting federal review. Fox News reported that four of the six studies did not examine whether mifepristone was actually present in environmental water samples. One cited paper, published in Issues in Law & Medicine, reported detecting anti-progesterone activity in water samples from three U.S. cities — but, as Fox News noted, that study did not directly detect mifepristone itself. The researchers acknowledged that another compound could have produced the same result, and that confirming the presence of mifepristone would require a different analytical chemistry method.