By KATE PAYNE

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood, claiming the organization is “misrepresenting the safety” of abortion pills.

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It is the latest legal challenge aimed at abortion pills, which are the most common way to end a pregnancy in the U.S., and which is increasingly a target for opponents of the procedure in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

In a complaint filed in a state court in Santa Rosa County on Thursday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier claimed the network of clinics is “making false claims about the safety of abortion drugs,” highlighting Planned Parenthood’s statements the pills are “safer than Tylenol.”

Here’s what to know.

Florida’s lawsuit targets ‘false claims’ about abortion drug safety

Florida’s lawsuit claims Planned Parenthood is violating a Florida law against deceptive and unfair trade practices and its activities constitute “racketeering,” a charge that was originally used to fight organized crime.

“Planned Parenthood and its Florida operations mislead women about the critical and undeniable risks of a chemical abortion by deceptively claiming these powerful drugs are less risky than everyday pain medication,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit seeks estimated damages of $350 million and asks the court to consider implementing a suite of sanctions against Planned Parenthood, including requiring the organization to sell off real estate, bar it from providing abortions, or order that the organization be dissolved.

In a statement, Planned Parenthood officials described the lawsuit as a “politically motivated attack” aimed at further eroding access to abortion in Florida, which bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.

“Anti-abortion lawmakers and officials are relentless in their effort to end access to all abortion care, and to stop patients from getting accurate medical information. We will continue to be just as relentless in our effort to defend access to this safe, effective care,” Susan Baker Manning, general counsel for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said in a statement, adding: “See you in court.”

The attorney general of Missouri filed a similar lawsuit against Planned Parenthood in July. The next hearing in that case is set for February.

Caroline Mala Corbin, a professor who teaches constitutional law at the University of Miami School of Law, said it is not surprising Florida is looking for new ways to restrict access to what has become the preferred way to end a pregnancy in the U.S.

“If this one succeeds, it may become a model for other states. And if it fails, no doubt they’ll come up with something else,” Corbin said.

Abortion opponents test new legal strategies to restrict access

Opponents of abortion are increasingly focusing on restricting access to pills, which by the time the Supreme Court overturned Roe accounted for over half of all abortions, typically using a combination of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol.

The pills are now used in nearly two-thirds of the abortions provided across the country and are prescribed via telehealth to patients in states with bans by doctors in states with laws that seek to protect them from legal scrutiny for providing such interstate care.

The Supreme Court decision opened the door for states to ban abortion, with Republican-controlled states working to restrict access and punish people who aid abortions, while Democrat-controlled states passed shield laws to protect medical providers.

Now, with Texas and 11 other states enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, and four more that bar most of them after the first six weeks or so of gestation, the pills have become an even more essential way abortion is provided in the U.S. — even in states that ban the procedure.

Last year, the Supreme Court unanimously preserved access to a mifepristone, ruling that abortion opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the medication.

Republican attorneys general are renewing the legal push, after the high court sent the case back down to a lower court in Texas. The attorneys general are contending that mifepristone is too risky to be prescribed via telehealth and that the FDA should roll back approvals and tighten access.

Researchers find abortion drugs are generally safe

Studies have found mifepristone and misoprostol are generally safe and result in completed abortions more than 97% of the time.

Medical organizations supporting mifepristone’s availability say the drug’s safety compares to “ibuprofen, which more than 30 million Americans take in any given day.”

Since 2000, roughly 6 million patients have taken mifepristone, according to the FDA. A 2021 review of agency records looking for deaths that were likely related to the drug identified 13, or .00027% of patients.

In an informational page on Planned Parenthood’s website, the organization compares abortion drugs to other common medications.

“Medication abortion is very safe. In fact, it’s safer than many other medicines like penicillin, Tylenol, and Viagra. Serious problems are rare, but like all medicines, there can be risks,” the statement reads.

Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By JEFF AMY

ATLANTA (AP) — A South Korean solar company says it will temporarily reduce pay and working hours for about 1,000 of its 3,000 employees in Georgia because U.S. customs officials have been detaining imported components needed to make solar panels.

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Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Solutions, said Friday that it will also lay off 300 workers from staffing agencies at its plants in Dalton and Cartersville, both northwest of Atlanta.

The company says U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been detaining imported components at ports on suspicion that they contain materials that may have been made with forced labor in China, meaning it can’t run its solar panel assembly lines at full strength.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced in August that her department was stepping up enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a 2021 law that restricts Chinese goods made with forced labor from entering the U.S. Published reports indicate that U.S. officials began detaining solar cells made by Qcells in June. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection couldn’t immediately answer questions about Qcells on Friday.

Qcells says none of its materials or components are made with forced labor or even come from China. Spokesperson Marta Stoepker said the company maintains “robust supply chain due diligence measures” and “very detailed documentation,” which has been successful in getting some shipments released.

“Our latest supply chain is sourced completely outside of China and our legacy supply chains contain no material from Xinjiang province based on third party audits and supplier guarantees,” Stoepker said.

She said Qcells is continuing to cooperate and expects to resume full production in the coming weeks and months.

“Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels,” Stoepker said in a statement.

Qcells has said it pays workers an average of about $53,000 a year. Workers will retain full benefits during furloughs.

Qcells is completing a $2.3 billion plant in Cartersville that will let it take polysilicon refined in Washington state and make ingots, wafers and solar cells — the building blocks of finished solar modules. That will allow it to reduce imports of solar modules. The company has said it will finish the plant even though President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress dismantled most of the tax credits for buying solar panels earlier this year.

“Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains,” Stoepker said. “We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.”

By MATTHEW LEE and DAVID KLEPPER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mexican authorities with assistance from the United States and Israeli intelligence agencies thwarted an alleged plot by Iran to assassinate the Israeli ambassador to Mexico, Israeli and U.S. officials said Friday. Mexican authorities denied any knowledge of such a plot.

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The plot to kill Ambassador Einat Kranz Neiger is alleged to have been hatched at the end of last year and remained active through the middle of this year, when it was disrupted, the U.S. officials said.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the intelligence, said the plot was “contained” and does not pose a current threat.

They did not offer details on how the plot was discovered or broken up. Iran’s mission to the U.N. said it had no comment.

“We thank the security and law enforcement services in Mexico for thwarting a terrorist network directed by Iran that sought to attack Israel’s ambassador in Mexico,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The Israeli security and intelligence community will continue to work tirelessly, in full cooperation with security and intelligence agencies around the world, to thwart terrorist threats from Iran and its proxies against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide.”

Mexico’s foreign relations and security ministries issued a brief joint statement late Friday saying that “they have no report with respect to a supposed attempt against the ambassador of Israel in Mexico.”

The foreign ministry “reiterates its willingness to maintain fluid communication with all accredited diplomatic representations in our country,” the statement said. The security ministry “reaffirms its respectful and coordinated collaboration, always within the framework of national sovereignty, with all security agencies that request it.”

The State Department had no immediate explanation for Mexico’s statement. It said, “Iran’s international abhorrent plots, aimed at its own citizens, Americans, and citizens of other nations are inconsistent with the behavior of a civilized state.”

“The United States is working with likeminded governments to share best practices and threat information, raise awareness about the issue of Iran’s lethal plots, work together to counter these threats, and hold perpetrators accountable,” the department said.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Mexico said in response to the Mexican authorities’ statement that it would not have any comment.

According to intelligence documents from one of the U.S. officials, an officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps named Hasan Izadi, who also goes by the name Masood Rahnema, initiated the plot along with other Iranian officials while serving as an aide to Iran’s ambassador to Venezuela.

The United States has long accused Iran of seeking to assassinate current and former U.S. officials as well as Israelis, including on U.S. soil.

AP writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations and Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Minnesota officials say this weekend they will issue full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program allotments for recipients for the month of November.

The announcement from the state Department of Children, Youth and Families comes after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a memo to states that it’s working to make funds available Friday for full monthly SNAP benefits. Besides Minnesota, officials in California, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have confirmed that some SNAP recipients already have been issued their full November payments.

Earlier on Friday, President Donald Trump’s administration had asked a federal appeals court to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly SNAP food benefits amid a U.S. government shutdown, even as at least some states said they were moving quickly to get the money to people.

The judge gave the Republican administration until Friday to make the payments through the SNAP program. But the administration asked the appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund, and instead allow it to continue with planned partial SNAP payments for the month.

According to Minnesota officials, benefits will be issued to all households currently approved to get SNAP and MFIP payments for November.

“This means some households may receive payments earlier than would be typical. DCYF is doing this to take steps to protect Minnesotans during the uncertainty of potential future court orders,” according to a news release from DCYF.

State officials say that more than 440,000 Minnesotans each month, including 180,000 children and 67,000 seniors, use SNAP or welfare benefits through the Minnesota Families Investment Program.

“As the longest shutdown in U.S. history concludes its sixth week, we are incredibly grateful Minnesotans will soon have access to their food benefits thanks to important legal system updates,” said Children, Youth and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown, in a statement. “When food support disappears, the consequences for Minnesota are immediate and far-reaching. It impacts public health, the state and local economies, education, and workforce stability.”

St. Paul’s food drive

Meanwhile, earlier this week the city of St. Paul started a food drive to assist SNAP recipients facing a cutoff of benefits during the federal government shutdown. So far, city officials said they have collected more than 10,000 pounds of food for local food shelves.

“And it’s been a great response. St. Paul residents and city staff definitely showed up in a big way,” said Ikram Koliso, interim director of the city of St. Paul’s Office of Financial Empowerment. “So all that planning happened over the weekend and just in a few days we were able to collect and move over 10,000 pounds of food.”

St. Paul residents have been dropping off items at four locations where they are then picked up and brought to food shelves and community partners that include Keystone Community Services, Merrick Community Services, Feeding Frogtown and Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. Drop-offs also will begin at Neighborhood House early next week, Koliso said.

“But it’s really about coming together to help bring some essential items, including hygiene supplies, culturally familiar staples, pet food, even people creating recipe kits, which is super cool to see,” Koliso said. “And that was really proof that neighbors are thinking of every family member of the household and we’re seeing the best of St. Paul neighbors helping neighbors every single day. And this was just a great tangible way to do that.”

Talking with community partners that provide food shelves or meal programs, Koliso has heard of increased need for their services and more people coming in the door, most recently due to the impacts of the shutdown. That need has grown even more since Nov. 1 when SNAP benefits stopped, she said.

City officials are determining how long they will continue the food drive as they go week by week, Koliso said.

City staff, as well as cadets from the St. Paul Police Department, have been helping with donation pickups and drop-offs throughout the week. Koliso said the community organizations the city has worked with also would accept monetary support as well, donations which community members can make directly.

The St. Paul food drive has four sites to drop off food. City officials ask that donors drop off items during normal hours — they can be found at stpaul.gov/reccenters.

To learn more about the four sites accepting donations and what the most needed items are, go to tinyurl.com/3e37e2z6.

Ramsey County

In Ramsey County, officials are working to connect residents with resources such as food shelves or emergency assistance. But many other services are federally funded, said County Manager Ling Becker.

“Counties are a social safety net for the community. We’re at a moment where a lot of that infrastructure is just really fragile and the need is high,” Becker said.

County officials announced earlier this week that the county will provide $380,000 to local food shelves as the federal shutdown continues. Those food shelves could begin purchasing food starting Thursday. Another $70,000 is being reserved to purchase infant formula.

“This is a one-time infusion of funds, really. And you know, it’s temporary, it’s unsustainable,” Becker said on Friday. “We think it’s necessary, obviously, but these are not the types of funding for food that counties can sustain. So we are stepping up as it’s coming.”

Stillwater bar offers soup

Elsewhere, others have worked to provide food as well.

Adam To, the owner of Howard’s Bar in downtown Stillwater, got tired of doom-scrolling and negative news this week and decided to do something about it.

Adam To, the owner of Howard’s Bar in downtown Stillwater, made 80 quarts of chicken soup on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, to give away to people facing food insecurity. Pictured with To is Howard, his Staffordshire terrier. (Courtesy of Adam To)

On Thursday, To cooked 80 quarts of his famous chicken soup with brown rice, kale, carrots, corn, celery and onions and gave it away to people facing food insecurity.

“I just kind of just woke up and was, like, thinking about the sort of circumstances people are under right now financially,” he said. “I was, like, ‘Well, I’ve got the time and the space to contribute something.’ I was like, ‘Why don’t I make a big batch of soup and give it away?’”

To called local food shelves to invite people in need to come by and he advertised the giveaway on social media.

From 2 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, To and his Staffordshire terrier, named Howard, of course, handed out quarts of soup to whomever came by. No proof of income was required.

“I basically asked how many people they were feeding and just gave them what they needed,” he said. “One quart generally feeds two people, so if there was a family of six, I would grab three. I left it up to people based on what they thought they might use.”

To said he used two cases of chicken thighs; about 48 quarts of homemade chicken stock; 12 quarts of kale; 10 pounds each of carrots, onions and celery; two quarts each of chopped garlic and ginger, five pounds of corn kernels. Seasonings included salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, dried thyme and dried oregano.

“It was really good,” he said. “I didn’t want to make a giant batch of, like, bad soup. So I was like, ‘It’s gotta be good, too.’”

Some came by the restaurant, located at 302 S. Main St., to donate to the cause, said To, who had his Venmo QR code posted at the giveaway.

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“There were a lot of other small business owners who came out,” he said. “You know, there’s a lot of support down here. People seemed to be kind of energized by it, and it created a good atmosphere in downtown Stillwater. I was like, ‘This is good.’”

To, who took over the former Whitey’s three years ago and renamed the restaurant Howard’s in June 2023, said he plans to offer a soup giveaway a couple of times a year.

“It seems just the cost of everything is going up,” he said. “People seem squeezed. People’s benefits are reduced or are completely gone. I was just really tired of opening up my phone and seeing bad news every day. I knew I had to transform some of those sentiments into action and just do something to transform some of that scarcity into generosity.”

This story contains information from the Associated Press.