Senator introduces legislation to reign in widely used abortion pill
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has introduced legislation aimed at scaling back the popular abortion drug mifepristone following a recent study that revealed alarming statistics. The Restoring Safeguards for Dangerous Abortion Drugs Act, introduced by Hawley, seeks to direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement safeguards on mifepristone, allowing women who have experienced complications from the medication to sue telehealth providers and pharmacies for damages. Additionally, the legislation would ban foreign companies from mailing and importing mifepristone into the United States.
Hawley’s push for this legislation comes in response to a study conducted by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), which found that 1 in 10 women who use mifepristone experience serious adverse effects such as sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or other life-threatening events within 45 days of taking the medication. The study analyzed 865,727 insurance claims between 2017 and 2023 for women who used mifepristone to terminate early pregnancies.
While the exact number of women who have undergone a mifepristone abortion since its FDA approval in 2000 is difficult to calculate, estimates from the Guttenmacher Institute suggest that over 1 million clinician-provided abortions were conducted in 2024 alone. The approval of mifepristone under the Clinton administration in 2000 came with stricter parameters for administration, but the Obama administration’s FDA rolled back some of these requirements in 2016.
Hawley’s letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary urged the FDA to take action in light of the new data on mifepristone, emphasizing the importance of restoring critical safeguards for women’s health and safety. The introduction of the Restoring Safeguards for Dangerous Abortion Drugs Act by Hawley comes at a critical time, as the Department of Justice under the Trump administration has sought to dismiss a case that could restrict access to mifepristone.
As the debate over mifepristone continues, it is clear that there are significant concerns surrounding the safety and regulation of this abortion drug. Hawley’s legislation aims to address these concerns and ensure that women’s health is protected. It remains to be seen how this legislation will progress and what impact it will have on the future of mifepristone use in the United States.
