Senator Hawley Proposes Legislation to Ban Mifepristone, Citing Controversial Safety Claims
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri has introduced new legislation aimed at banning the abortion medication mifepristone, escalating his ongoing campaign against medication abortion access. The bill, titled the Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act, was announced on Wednesday and seeks to withdraw the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 26-year approval of mifepristone while allowing women who claim harm from the drug to sue its manufacturers.
Hawley's Claims and Legislative Push
At a press conference announcing the legislation, Hawley declared, "We are here today to issue a call to action. To call on the United States Congress to stand up and to protect the innocent unborn, to protect the health and safety of women whose lives are endangered by the abortion drug known as mifepristone, and we're also here to call on Congress to stand up to the greedy and foreign corporations who are making billions of dollars in profits by endangering women's health."
The senator repeatedly characterized mifepristone as "inherently dangerous" and "completely unregulated," highlighting anecdotal stories of women being coerced into taking the medication. Instead of focusing on addressing the coercive behavior of partners, Hawley's approach targets a medication that has been used safely by millions since its FDA approval in 2000.
Political Context and Support
The legislation faces significant political hurdles, requiring 60 votes in the Senate where Republicans hold only 53 seats. However, influential Senator John Cornyn of Texas has already expressed support for the effort, tweeting on Thursday that he was "all in" on the bill. This push comes as medication abortion—typically involving mifepristone combined with misoprostol—now accounts for at least 63% of all abortion care since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with telehealth providing one in four U.S. abortions in 2024.
Hawley emphasized this point during his press conference, stating, "The Dobbs opinion is basically a dead letter so long as these abortion drugs can be mailed into every state."
Controversial Evidence and Scientific Rebuttal
Hawley's arguments rely heavily on a report published last year by the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, which claims to be the "largest-known study of the abortion pill" and asserts that nearly 11% of women experience serious adverse events following mifepristone use. However, this report has not undergone peer review, and data scientists have repeatedly questioned its validity.
Blair Darney, vice president for domestic research at the Guttmacher Institute, countered these claims in a statement: "The science is settled: mifepristone is safe and effective. Decades of rigorous research from the U.S. and around the world has consistently demonstrated that serious adverse events occur in less than 1% of all medication abortions, a far cry from the one in ten statistic that anti-abortion policymakers have been citing in yet another baseless attempt to restrict access to this critical medication."
Broader Political Landscape
This legislation represents Hawley's latest effort to restrict abortion pill access, following his previous attempts to ban mailing of abortion medications and pressure the FDA to review mifepristone safety. These moves occur amid growing fractures within the anti-abortion movement, with some advocates expressing frustration over the Trump administration's reportedly slow approach to FDA review of mifepristone and recent moves to dismiss federal lawsuits against the medication.
The political dynamics surrounding this issue continue to evolve as medication abortion becomes increasingly central to reproductive healthcare access in the post-Roe landscape, with legislative battles likely to intensify in coming months.
