House Republicans introduced a bill on Tuesday that would undo recent rule changes from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowing for more widespread access to medication abortion, The Daily Signal first reported.
In early January, the FDA made a regulatory change allowing retail pharmacies to offer mifepristone — the first pill used in a two-drug medication abortion regimen — in-store and by mail order, though patients will still need a prescription from a certified health care provider. At the same time, the FDA officially removed the in-person requirement from its regulatory rule book for mifepristone, meaning women will continue to be able to obtain a prescription for the abortion pill via telemedicine.
Mifepristone (Mifeprex) and Misoprostol, the two drugs used in a medication abortion, are seen at the Women’s Reproductive Clinic, which provides legal medication abortion services, in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on June 17, 2022. (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
The GOP bill, if passed, would nullify those rule changes and prevent the FDA from creating similar rules in the future. Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) introduced the bill along with 13 other members of the Republican Study Committee.
“The FDA’s policy change for mifepristone is the latest example of President Biden’s crusade toward abortion on demand at any cost, even at the expense of women’s health,” Harshbarger told the Daily Signal, which is a news platform for The Heritage Foundation.
Harshbarger said the possibility of “life threatening complications” associated with abortion drugs means that “every woman in America deserves to know the heightened risks involved with chemical abortions before they make a life altering decision.”
“My bill restores commonsense and proper safety prescriber requirements for the dispensing of these dangerous abortion drugs,” she added.
U.S. Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger speaking with attendees at the 2021 Young Women’s Leadership Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
The introduction of the legislation comes days after 22 state attorneys general sent a letter to the FDA urging the agency to reverse its rule changes.
“Most importantly, the FDA has ignored its responsibility to protect health and safety by prioritizing a reckless pro-abortion policy over women’s health. Though there are risks to a woman of using these drugs at any point in pregnancy, abortion-inducing drug are riskiest when used later in pregnancy,” the letter reads in part. “This means that accurately determining the date of pregnancy is critical for women’s safety. And that determination will be accurate only if made in-person via ultrasound.”
Former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino explained in his videos about various abortion procedures and how drug-induced abortions work. The first drug, mifepristone, blocks the action of progesterone, which the mother’s body produces to nourish the pregnancy. When progesterone is blocked, the lining of the mother’s uterus deteriorates, and blood and nourishment are cut off to the developing baby, who then dies inside the mother’s womb. The drug misoprostol (also called Cytotec) then causes contractions and bleeding to expel the baby from the mother’s uterus.
The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute found that mifepristone is used for more than half of all abortions in the United States. In 2020, the drug accounted for 53 percent of all abortions, up from 39 percent in 2017.