The Bipartisan Backlash Against Mail-Order Abortion Pills

Americans are finding common ground on an unexpected issue, abortion drugs. New polling shows that rolling back dangerous Biden-era policies on the drugs is not only supported by a majority of Americans, but such support transcends traditional party divides and the “pro-life” versus “pro-choice” label.

Seven in 10 likely voters, including 57% of liberal voters, approve of reinstating safeguards around the drugs by requiring a doctor visit for abortion drug prescriptions. Even more revealing, the majority of voters who were surveyed for the poll identify as “pro-choice,” representing a possible shift in how voters view the repercussions of the drugs for women’s health and safety.

Another 70% of respondents support doctors screening for and reporting possible abuse and coercion before prescribing the drugs, a policy that could have prevented the tragedy Catherine Herring experienced firsthand when her husband purchased lethal abortion drugs online and tried to end her pregnancy by lacing her drinks.

Catherine’s abuser was enabled by the Biden Administration’s removal of abortion drug safeguards, which eliminated in-person dispensing requirements for abortion pills under the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program. As a result, it’s easier than ever for would-be abusers and coercers to obtain the pills via mail. The FDA’s recent approval of a new generic version of the abortion drug mifepristone only compounds these risks for women by making the drugs even easier to access.

The response has been swift, with groups urging the FDA to rescind their approval and restore policies that protect women’s health and safety while affirming life.

The dangers of abortion drugs have never been more apparent. A recent study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center found that serious adverse events from the abortion drug are approximately 22 times more frequent than the FDA currently reports, with over one in ten women experiencing sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or other harmful side-effects.

A peer-reviewed article from the Charlotte Lozier Institute also debunked the popular claim that the abortion pill is “safer than Tylenol.” Just recently, the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG) sounded the alarm on a dangerous sepsis-like infection that can occur after a pregnant woman takes mifepristone.

Even Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly admitted that the Biden Administration had “twisted the data to bury one of the safety signals, a very high safety signal, around 11 percent” related to abortion drugs. Yet the FDA significantly expanded access to mifepristone with the approval of the new generic pill, rather than pausing to examine the current evidence of harm or complete the agency’s promised report on the safety of the drug.

In any other area of medicine, such findings would have triggered alarm, inquiry, and reform. In the absence of any such immediate action, the pro-life movement, state attorneys general, and Congress are standing in the gap to protect women.

A coalition of advocacy and policy organizations – led by Live Action with support from Students for Life, Concerned Women for America, Heartbeat International, Advancing American Freedom, AAPLOG, the Life Leadership Conference, and several others – joined with state leaders to demand a reversal of the FDA’s decision to approve the new generic version of mifepristone.

Attorney generals from twenty-two states, led by Alabama’s Steve Marshall, denounced the FDA’s “illegal and dangerous” rollback of in-person dispensing rules. Fifteen more have called on Congress to confront “shield laws” that allow doctors to mail abortion drugs into pro-life states while circumventing state laws.

Earlier this month, Senator Lindsey Graham led 51 senators in sending a joint letter to Secretary Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, urging them to halt the rollout of the new generic drug and reinstate the safety rules that once governed its use.

Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy followed with an oversight letter pressing the same officials to explain how the agency could expand access while simultaneously pledging to “review the ongoing data.” Cassidy warned that the FDA’s decision “fails to mitigate the risks to women that have been identified and fails to protect women from the coercive use of the drug.”

The central claim is simple: women’s health and safety are on the line. The FDA and HHS must act to restore crucial safeguards.

Pro-life groups and elected officials echo the voices of women who have been harmed directly by abortion drugs. Women like Liana Davis, whose hot chocolate was laced with abortion drugs by her boyfriend, resulting in a miscarriage; Rosalie Markezich, who was coerced by her boyfriend into taking mail-order abortion pills; and Catherine Herring, who unknowingly consumed abortion drugs slipped into her drink by her husband.

Their heartbreaking stories shine a light on the true costs of uncontrolled abortion drugs. Americans understand those costs too, and a majority want to see crucial safeguards restored. The FDA and HHS must respond and act before more women are harmed.

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David Bereit is the executive director of the Life Leadership Conference.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Correction: The image for this article has been replaced.