Bill to safeguard women from chemical abortion introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley

Bill to safeguard women from chemical abortion introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, on March 11 announced legislation to ban the chemical abortion drug mifepristone, citing safety concerns for women.

The Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act, which is widely supported by life-affirming groups, would withdraw FDA approval for the use of mifepristone for chemical abortions as well as establishing a federal tort “for harm to women caused by chemical abortion drugs.” This would allow women who have been harmed by the drug to make claims against the U.S. government in relation to mifepristone. Mifepristone is also used to manage early miscarriages, which the bill would not ban.

A recent study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) found that the removal of in-person visit requirements led to an increase in adverse effects for women having chemical abortions. This study is one among several pointing to a higher rate of serious problems.

Multiple other studies have shown high rates of hospitalizations for women taking the abortion pill. Chemical abortion has a complication rate four times that of surgical abortion, according to one study. Another report found that abortion pill complications are often underreported or misclassified.

The legislation comes after the Trump administration pledged to investigate the safety of the drug but later approved a generic version of the abortion pill in October 2025.

“The science is clear: The chemical abortion drug is inherently dangerous to women and prone to abuse. Yet major companies like Danco Laboratories are making billions off it,” Hawley said in a statement.

American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists director Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB-GYN who works as an OB hospitalist in Indiana, spoke at the press conference on March 11 about her experience with women experiencing complications like “severe bleeding, severe infections that require multiple IV antibiotics, and even emergency surgery.”

“I work in the state of Indiana where abortion is largely illegal, and yet I and my colleagues regularly are called down to the emergency room to care for women … that are suffering severe complications,” she said. “I’ll tell you who isn’t taking care of them in the emergency room — the profit-driven pill pushers that sent them those pills either online, through the mail, or even in an abortion facility.”

“The purpose of medicine is health, healing, and wholeness, and dangerous abortion drugs are the exact opposite of this,” Francis said. “So it’s time for the FDA to do its job and protect American women and children from the harms of mifepristone.”

Abortion pill company to remove ads following South Dakota lawsuit

New York-based abortion drug distributor Mayday Health has agreed to remove “deceptive and unlawful” advertisements after a settlement with South Dakota, according to the state Attorney General Marty Jackley.

According to the limited release agreement, the group “targeted” South Dakota with abortion pill advertisements even though abortion pills are illegal in the state. In December 2025, Jackley sent a cease-and-desist letter to Mayday Health over its advertising practices.

In the settlement, Mayday Health agreed to remove advertisements that “aid, abet, or solicit illegal conduct” in South Dakota.

“Mayday Health targeted women and young girls encouraging them to take abortion pills while misleading them about the physical risks,” Jackley said. “My position has been clear and unwavering: South Dakota law governs, and the misleading advertisements must be, and are, stopped.”