Florida and Nebraska Just Killed My Blue Wave High

As we reported earlier this week, Tuesday marked an encouraging day for abortion access, and the results in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and California helped to enshrine reproductive freedoms in those states. But alas, the good vibes couldn’t last forever. In fact… they couldn’t even last two days.

On Thursday, Florida’s anti-abortion Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a 37-page lawsuit against Planned Parenthood for its “manifestly false” claim that mifepristone isn’t safe, because…it is. The lawsuit seeks $10,000 for each time a PP affiliate “committed” what he classifies as a “chemical abortion”—the right’s favorite fearmongering anti-abortion term—and demands $350 million in penalties.

“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 an accompanying statement provided to Jezebel. “When it comes to health and safety in Florida, we won’t tolerate blatant lies using fabricated medical ‘facts’ that have no scientific basis.” 

Ironically, “blatant lies,” “fabricated medical facts,” and a lack of scientific basis are exactly what landed Uthmeier in headlines in September, after he rambled about mifepristone being unsafe. (It’s not.) Something we repeatedly bang on about here at Jezebel—aside from the fact that Mike Johnson monitors porn intake with his son—is that mifepristone is safe. It is safer than Viagra and safer than, yes, Tylenol. It is the most common form of abortion medication in the U.S., and it accounted for 1 in 4 abortions in 2023, thanks in part to shield laws, which allow providers in states where abortion rights are protected to prescribe the pill to patients in states with abortion bans.

Regardless, the GOP has continued to push a bogus study by the far-right think tank, Ethics and Public Policy Center, in an attempt to legitimize their cause. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), in particular, has run with the study, and hard. Harder than he ran from the Capitol mob in 2021.

Uthmeier cites the junk science study on page two of his lawsuit, referring to “serious adverse effects” when taking the pill. In August, he was also one of 21 anti-abortion AGs who demanded the Trump administration re-review the pill, which the FDA said it would do in September. 

“This lawsuit is just another attack on safe and legal abortion in Florida and a further attempt to erode access to all abortion care by targeting medication abortion now that we have a near-total abortion ban in the state,” Alexandra Mandado, the PP Florida chapter CEO and president, told CBS News. “Lawsuits like this are a part of an effort to sow confusion and attack Planned Parenthood for the care we provide.” 

Alas, Uthmeier wasting 37 pages on anti-science drivel was not the only anti-abortion nonsense to take place on Thursday—farther northwest, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen (R) was also going after Planned Parenthood. Pillen signed an executive order blocking abortion providers from receiving Medicaid—a move similar to what Trump did in his Big, Beautiful Bill, which has since resulted in the backdoor defunding of Planned Parenthood, as well as smaller clinics such as Maine Family Planning. On Friday, Pillen posted to his Facebook, “Not a penny of taxpayer dollars should EVER go to abortion providers.”

Pillen’s order, horribly called “Protecting the Life, Health, and Welfare of Pregnant Women, and Unborn Human Life,” explicitly names Planned Parenthood, but also enacts a blanket restriction across other abortion clinics, such as CARE Reproductive Health in Bellevue. According to officials, it was the product of two anti-abortion measures: Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill that gave the backdoor pass to gut abortion providers, and a recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to defund PP.

“Nebraskans need birth control. They need cancer screenings. They need wellness exams. And, yes, they need abortion care,” Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, told Jezebel in a statement. “This executive order is nothing but a publicity stunt by state leaders meant to confuse Nebraskans about their health care options.”

In May, Pillen announced his reelection bid for 2026. Mark your calendars, Nebraskans.

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