WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) and Republican Study Committee Chairman Representative Kevin Hern (R-OK) introduced a bill to nullify a FDA risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) on Mifepristone, a chemical abortion drug.
“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. Chemical abortion drugs have been associated with staggering numbers of life-threatening complications. Every woman in America deserves to know the heightened risks involved with chemical abortions before they make a life-altering decision. My bill restores common-sense and proper safety prescriber requirements for the dispensing of these dangerous abortion drugs,” said Congresswoman Harshbarger.
“Thanks to last year’s Dobbs decision, we have the opportunity to protect and empower life for the first time in a generation,” said Chairman Hern. “Chemical abortions are dangerous, not only to the unborn child, but also to the mother. The Biden Administration’s move to eliminate in-person dispensing requirements for use of these dangerous drugs was politically motivated and will put millions of women and babies in danger. We must fight every day for those unable to fight for themselves.”
This bill is supported by multiple members of the pro-life movement, including:
"Every January, we pause to observe Sanctity of Life Sunday, where we pray and grieve for the child in the womb who have been lost, and recommit ourselves to seeing abortion made unthinkable in our country. Sadly, this January, the FDA finalized expanded access to the abortion pill, allowing for the pills to be easily accessed online and through retail pharmacies. This bill would rightly nullify the administration’s nefarious expansion of chemical abortions. Our preborn children and their mothers deserve much better.”
-Herbert M. Newell IV President and Executive Director, Lifeline Children's Services
“Democrats will make exceptions to any rule so long as they think it will help promote abortions. In this case, it’s especially appalling. As bad as the previous lax regulation from the FDA was, they’ve somehow found a way to make it worse. Companies shouldn’t be able to sling dangerous pills online and intentionally induce miscarriages from afar in patients they’ve never even met. Furthermore, we shouldn't be empowering abusers by making it even easier for them to get their hands on abortion drugs. Anyone who calls themselves pro-life should support these bills."
-Terry Schilling, President, American Principles Project
"It has long been the view that pharmacies exist to provide medication that improves health and extends life. Allowing these pills to be dispensed in local pharmacies does the exact opposite. In the post-Roe moment, our priority should be saving lives and serving mothers, not taking life and hurting mothers."
-Brent Leatherwood, President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
"The Biden administration's actions to distribute chemical abortion drugs without proper medical evaluation is extremely dangerous to women. Rep. Harshbarger's legislation to nullify the final FDA rule that expands distribution of these drugs through telehealth and mail is urgently needed to save the lives of babies and their mothers. Eagle Forum urges all members of Congress to swiftly move this legislation forward."
-Kris Ullman, President of Eagle Forum
"The Biden administration has exploited the recent pandemic to advance their anti-life agenda by waiving long-standing medical safety requirements associated with chemical abortions. Taken together, the bills introduced today by Representatives Harshbarger and Hern are critical to prevent the dangerous expansion of access to abortion pills - by both the current and future administrations. The abortion industry and their radical friends in the Administration are endangering the health and lives of women with their policies. I encourage all Members to support these important bills."
-Jessica Anderson, Executive Director, Heritage Action
“Despite what the Biden administration may claim, there is mounting evidence of just how dangerous do-it-yourself chemical abortions are to both unborn children and their mothers. The latest action by the FDA to put pharmacies on the front lines of distributing abortion pills—without any real concern for how this move will impact maternal health—shows just how politicized the FDA has become. Thanks to pro-life leaders like Representatives Hern and Harshbarger, there is hope that this Congress will take back its role in providing oversight to the FDA and restore true health and safety measures for all Americans, including the unborn.”
-Connor Semelsberger, Director of Federal Affairs for Life and Human Dignity, Family Research Council
"ACLJ Action stands in strong support of nullifying the Food and Drug Administration’s dangerous rule change lifting safety restrictions for the abortion drug mifepristone. The Biden Administration’s willingness to sacrifice the health and safety of women to advance their goal of killing unborn children is unconscionable. ACLJ Action is proud to endorse this bill, which will both protect life and ensure pregnant women continue to receive the high standard of medical care that they deserve."
-Jordan Sekulow, President & CEO of American Center for Law and Justice Action
Group Support:
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee; Americans United for Life; Heritage Action; Family Research Council; Lifeline Children's Services; U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Liberty Counsel Action; American Principles Project; Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; American Center for Law and Justice Action.
About the bill:
- Nullifies the FDA’s rule change to the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for the abortion pill mifepristone.
- Ends the ability for retail pharmacies and mail order services from distributing this chemical abortion drug, returning to in-person dispensing of the drug.
- This bill also prevents the Department of Health and Human Services from establishing and enforcing any substantially similar provision of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy for mifepristone.
Background:
- The Biden Administration’s Food and Drug Administration has moved to formally eliminate in-person distribution of mifepristone, expanding the drug market for chemical abortion drugs to include retail pharmacies AND by mail order.
- Walgreens and CVS have announced plans to distribute this chemical abortion drug at their locations like any other prescription medication (this does not apply in states with abortion bans).
- This chemical abortion pill is a two-drug regimen taken up to 70 days (10 weeks) or even later into pregnancy and causes the death of an unborn child. The first drug blocks the hormone progesterone, starving the baby of hormonal support while the second induces labor to expel the child from the womb.
- Multiple peer-reviewed studies confirm that women are at risk of serve side effects after taking chemical abortion pills - including hemorrhaging, the need for follow-up surgery, and even death. Studies have also found that after a chemical abortion there is a 53% greater risk for an ER visit for abortion complications than after a surgical abortion.
Original Co-Sponsors:
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN), Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Rep. Rangy Weber (R-TX), Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Rep. Daniel Webster (R-TX), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ).