Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation Tuesday to scale back the popular abortion drug mifepristone after a recent study revealed that 1 in 10 women who used the medication experienced “serious adverse effects.”
The Restoring Safeguards for Dangerous Abortion Drugs Act would direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create safeguards on the abortion drug mifepristone, allow women who have suffered complications from prescriptions the right to sue telehealth providers and pharmacies for damages, and ban foreign companies from mailing and importing mifepristone into the U.S.
Hawley introduced the legislation “after a bombshell study revealed the truth about mifepristone: it’s dangerous,” the Missouri senator told Fox News Digital. “The data shows 1 in 10 women who take mifepristone experience adverse health effects, like going to the ER or suffering from sepsis. The FDA needs to act to protect women now.”
Hawley cites last week’s study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), which revealed in its key findings that “10.93 percent of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.”
The study assessed 865,727 insurance claims between 2017 and 2023 for women who used the medication to terminate early pregnancy. The pill can be taken up to “70 days since the first day of their last menstrual period,” according to the FDA.
The exact number of women who have undergone a mifepristone abortion since the FDA’s approval under the Clinton administration in 2000 can be difficult to calculate, as some pregnancies are terminated without official medical intervention.
