In 2016, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said during an MSNBC town hall that there should be “some form of punishment” for women who chose to abort their unborn children.
His comments erupted a firestorm of controversy among both pro-abortion and pro-life advocates, prompting a rapid backtrack. March For Life President Jeanne Mancini said Trump’s comments were “out of touch” and that “no pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion,” while National Right to Life released an equally critical statement.
Though Trump quickly softened his position, some Republicans and conservative activists, increasingly emboldened by the end of Roe v. Wade and the rise of so-called “self-managed” abortions, are looking to criminalize abortion for anyone involved — including the woman. 
They believe that criminalizing abortion will be an effective deterrent to the onslaught of illegal abortion pills being mailed across the country into states where medication abortion is supposed to be illegal. And despite some efforts by a few Republican attorneys general to target those sending abortion pills across the country, abortion pill activists continue to receive glowing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/health/a-day-with-one-abortion-pill-prescriber.html">profiles</a> in legacy outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian.
While this position is still a minority among elected Republicans, it is gaining increasing national attention from left-leaning media outlets, who portray those who support criminalization as extreme. Advocates of criminalization often clash with traditional pro-life groups, who say that criminalization will drive more women to underground abortions and lead them to stop turning to crisis pregnancy centers for help.
This year, the debate has played out across the country — from North Dakota to Georgia, from Texas to Missouri — where Republican lawmakers have proposed &#8220;equal protection&#8221; bills that would criminalize abortion. According to the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, 16 criminalization bills have been introduced across 14 states so far this year, with support from 122 Republican lawmakers. 
Those bills received four committee hearings, three committee votes, and one floor vote.
In February, a North Dakota proposal that would have expanded the current homicide law to encompass anyone who ends the life of an unborn child was voted down on the Republican-dominated House floor. The bill, <a href="https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/documents/25-0415-05000.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HB 1373</a>, would have amended the definition of “human being” in the homicide code to include an “individual living human child before birth from the beginning of biological development at the moment of fertilization upon the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum.” 
As could be expected, <a href="https://www.weareplannedparenthoodaction.org/a/reject-hb-1373" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Planned Parenthood</a> and the <a href="https://www.aclund.org/en/legislation/house-bill-1373" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ACLU</a> vigorously lobbied against the bill. But it also divided pro-life groups. 
During a committee hearing, Republican Rep. Lori Van Winkle, the author of the legislation, <a href="https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/testimony/HHUMSER-1373-20250205-35286-F-VANWINKLE_LORI.pdf">said</a> that it would have made it clear in North Dakota law that unborn children are human and would “close a loophole that has allowed murder of innocent lives to continue in this state at will and on demand by any woman who desires to take a pill and kill her preborn child.”
Ultimately, the bill failed as the House Human Services Committee gave the legislation an 11-1 do not pass recommendation, and the full House voted 77-16 against advancing the proposal. 
That came after an organization called North Dakota Can circulated a letter signed by a variety of conservative leaders. Amber Vibeto, the executive director of North Dakota Can, told The Daily Wire that the legislation was needed to crack down on the dramatic increase in so-called “self-managed abortions.”
“Abortion remains legal in all 50 states because even in pro-life states, pro-life legislation carves out special legal immunity for women to self-induce their own abortions,” she said. “And so women are self-inducing their own abortions and they have complete legal freedom to do so. And so there are no abortion bans in the United States.” 
Vibeto said that the intent was not just to round up women and put them in prison, but to extend protections to the unborn. 
“We just need to include the preborn in the homicide laws that we already have on the books. We just believe that the same laws that protect you and me from murder and homicide should protect the preborn as well,” she said. “Our constitution demands equal protection under the law to all persons, and it doesn’t have a qualifier that says ‘well, unless you live in a culture of lies that makes you a victim.’” 
On the other side, a number of pro-life groups opposed the bill, saying that it would have done more harm than good. Both the North Dakota Catholic Conference and the North Dakota Family Alliance gave testimony urging lawmakers not to support the bill.
Mark Jorritsma, the executive director of the North Dakota Family Alliance, told The Daily Wire that while he believed the bill was “well-intentioned,&#8221; it was “not the right way to end abortion” in North Dakota. 
“Fundamentally, you&#8217;re punishing the wrong person,” he said. “We do claim and agree that the mother is the second victim here. There is often undo pressure put on her, she’s in a state of mind where she’s not capable of making the right decisions given fear, or whatever else she may be dealing with.” 
Jorritsma also said he had practical problems with the bill, saying that it would have led to a dramatic increase in prison population that wouldn’t be possible to maintain. 
“Regardless of your ethical, moral, religious, philosophical bent on the issue, it’s just untenable. You cannot do it even if you wanted to,” he said. “You’re going to have law enforcement going out and arresting 18-year-old girls instead of stopping drunk drivers.”
David Tamisiea, the executive director of the North Dakota Catholic Conference, told The Daily Wire that he believed that pro-life lawmakers should focus on building a culture of life in the state instead of making women felons.
“Rather than going after women, supporting women in difficult circumstances so that abortion becomes unthinkable to them,” he said. 
He also said that HB 1373 would have been immediately struck down because of a recent North Dakota Supreme Court decision that ruled that women have a “fundamental right” to abortion in certain circumstances. 
A similar debate played out in Georgia, where lawmakers considered a similar bill, <a href="https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70313" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HB 441.</a> That fight pitted groups like the Georgia Life Alliance against Georgia Right to Life. 
The legislation, known as the Georgia Prenatal Equal Protection Act, was introduced by Rep. Emory Dunahoo. The proposal would have added protections for unborn babies under state homicide laws.
“Tens of thousands of babies, made in the image of God, continue to be murdered in our state every year, all within the bounds of the current law. That must be changed,”  Dunahoo <a href="https://georgiarecorder.com/2025/03/26/bill-that-criminalizes-abortion-undermines-ivf-access-gets-georgia-house-panel-hearing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a March hearing on his legislation. 
His proposal was supported by Georgia Right to Life, a Christian organization that doesn’t support any exceptions for abortion. 
“Our homicide code in Georgia does not criminalize people, it criminalizes an act. Just as homicide is an act that is born out under a criminal law, abortion being murder should carry that same punishment,&#8221; Georgia Right to Life Executive Director Zemmie Fleck told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Our homicide code should apply to both of those because, for Georgia Right to Life, we recognize that a preborn child is a person at its very earliest beginnings, whether that be in the petri dish or whether that is natural conception.” 
Fleck added that she understood the enormous impact of abortion on American culture, noting that an estimated 65 million babies have been aborted since 1973.
“Our hearts go out, our prayers go out to men and women who have been impacted by this abortion issue. The numbers are just staggering,&#8221; she said. “This has impacted our society to incredible levels.” 
On the other side, the Georgia Life Alliance, which describes itself as the largest pro-life group in the state, sent a letter to lawmakers asking them to oppose the legislation. In their letter, they said that they had &#8220;grave concerns with the impact, consequences, and outcomes of the bill which conflicts with our organizational mission.&#8221;
These concerns included their belief that deterring abortion &#8220;requires compassionate support, not punitive measures,&#8221; that the bill could deter women from seeking medical care, and that criminalizing abortion could lead to more &#8220;unregulated abortions.&#8221;
&#8220;Regardless of one&#8217;s beliefs on access to abortion, women and girls should not be further traumatized from their abortion by the fear of criminal prosecution,&#8221; the group wrote. &#8220;We can love them both by pursuing ways to help women and children in desperate situations and take care not to pass laws that unintentionally encourage their further harm and additional trauma to women which is incentivized by HB 441.&#8221;
Ultimately, the bill did not get a committee vote. But it could be brought up again by the chair at a later time. 
Similar battles have played out this year in states like Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, delegates to the state&#8217;s Republican Party convention recently <a href="https://x.com/AbolishAbortOK/status/1918792596433858560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1918792596433858560%7Ctwgr%5Eb3b17918d52c0073a6ab35b286f770b4392e9657%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffaa.life%2Farticles%2Foklahoma-christians-hold-enemies-of-equal-protection-accountable" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> to censor Republican lawmakers who opposed a proposal criminalizing abortion in the state. 
Most national pro-life organizations oppose bills that would criminalize abortion, arguing that they harm the cause. In the lead up to the overturning of Roe, a coalition of top pro-life groups sent an <a href="https://www.nrlc.org/uploads/communications/051222coalitionlettertostates.pdf">open letter</a> to state legislatures making clear their opposition to criminalizing abortion. 
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&#8220;Women are victims of abortion and require our compassion and support as well as ready access to counseling and social services in the days, weeks, months, and years following an abortion,&#8221; the leaders wrote in the letter. &#8220;As national and state pro-life organizations, representing tens of millions of pro-life men, women, and children across the country, let us be clear: We state unequivocally that we do not support any measure seeking to criminalize or punish women and we stand firmly opposed to include such penalties in legislation.&#8221;
Signatories included the leaders of National Right to Life, Americans United for Life, March for Life Action, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and many more.
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Kelsey Pritchard, the political affairs communication director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, pointed out that none of the criminalization bills have been approved affirmatively by any GOP-led committees.
“SBA Pro-Life America does not support legislation to criminalize women and qualify them for the death penalty,&#8221; she said. &#8220;No state pro-life law criminalizes women, and that’s not changing as not a single one of these bills has passed out of committee.&#8221;
Pritchard also pointed to a <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/study-many-women-who-had-abortions-felt-pressured-by-others/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> that said over 60% of women who had abortions reported experiencing some form of pressure or coercion. 
“In a world where a predatory abortion industry embeds lies about the humanity of unborn children into our culture and enables abortion coercion, women with unplanned pregnancies need more support,&#8221; she said.
One prominent national leader who has changed her perspective on the issue is Abby Johnson. A former Planned Parenthood employee, Johnson runs And Then There Were None, an organization that supports people who want to leave the abortion industry, and ProLove Ministries, a group that aids expectant moms in crisis pregnancies.
She told The Daily Wire that she is skeptical of the position that women are victims of abortion, saying that she often sees women boasting and laughing about ending the life of their unborn child outside of abortion facilities.
“Holding people accountable for their actions is the right thing to do. It&#8217;s the conservative thing to do. It&#8217;s the lawful thing to do. It’s the biblical thing to do,&#8221; she said. 
She believes that criminalizing abortion would deter women from seeking to terminate their pregnancies. Personally, she said that she would not have had two abortions or worked for Planned Parenthood if she had faced the threat of criminalization.
“What is actually going to effectively reduce the number of abortions?” she said. “It&#8217;s not the regulation. It’s not going after the abortion doctors. It’s going after the people who are ordering, who are taking the pills, who are flushing the babies down the toilet, it&#8217;s going after the consumer.”
Johnson said that while she disagrees with the approach many of her national pro-life counterparts have taken, she is still able to work well with them on specific issues and causes. Pro-life leaders in North Dakota who opposed the criminalizing bill there echoed that sentiment.
Mark Jorritsma of the North Dakota Family Alliance told The Daily Wire that he would be “more than happy” to talk to the other side, adding that “they’re on our side, they are not the enemy.&#8221;

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A group of Republican lawmakers asked EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Wednesday to look at the dangers of flushing the abortion pill into America’s drinking water, according to a letter first shared with The Daily Wire. 
Led by Rep. Josh Brecheen and Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the lawmakers urged Zeldin to take steps to probe whether the byproducts of mifepristone were ending up in drinking water and negatively impacting fertility. They argued that the deadly pills were not only ending the lives of unborn children, but also contaminating drinking water, making it unsafe for all Americans. 
“We recognize that the greatest tragedy of every abortion is the murder of the innocent. But we are also concerned that activist bureaucrats overlooked real public health risks posed by mifepristone in their crusade to expand abortion access,” Brecheen told The Daily Wire. “With chemical abortion now the most common abortion method in America, the public deserves answers about how these potent hormone disruptors affect our water supply and contribute to our nation’s rising infertility rates.”
The <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Congressional-Letter-to-EPA-re-Mifepristone.pdf">letter</a> notes that there were at least 648,500 medication abortions in 2023, and that many chemicals from the pills, meant to kill an unborn child, were ending up in the water system. The lawmakers said that since mifepristone is meant to disrupt the hormones of a pregnant woman that it could have endocrine-disrupting effects for the general public when introduced into the water system. 
“If residual amounts of the drug and its metabolites persist in wastewater, prolonged exposure could potentially interfere with a person’s fertility, regardless of sex. We believe it is reckless to allow a known progesterone blocker to be flushed into America’s drinking water without knowing definitively if it impacts fertility rates,” the letter says. 
Senators Cynthia Lummis (WY), Bernie Moreno (OH), and Jim Banks (IN) also signed on to the letter, as did 20 other House Republicans. 
They asked Zeldin if the EPA believed mifepristone should be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, if the EPA had considered monitoring or regulating mifepristone, and if the agency had conducted any reviews of the abortion pill&#8217;s impact on drinking water.
“Federal regulators are rightfully eager to study the health effects of many chemicals in our water and septic systems, but they haven’t examined the environmental and public health risks of chemical abortion drugs like mifepristone in those same systems,” Lankford said. “Scientific research on the health effects of water sources where there are trace amounts of a chemical that is designed to end the life of a child in the womb should not be controversial.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-a-leftist-network-of-websites-floods-red-states-with-abortion-pills-with-no-consequences-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: How A Leftist Network Of Websites Floods Red States With Abortion Pills With No Consequences</a>
The action was also supported by Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins, who said that the Biden administration recklessly expanded the distribution of the abortion pill. 
“You don’t have to be pro-life to be concerned about endocrine disrupters in our waterways, potentially impacting our water safety, harming endangered species and our food supply, and perhaps even multiplying the rate of infertility,” she said. 
Medication abortion has quickly become the most common form of abortion, making up over 60% of all abortions, according to some estimates. The real percentage may be even higher because of the amount of illegal pills that are shipped into red states that have technically prohibited all abortions.
The Trump administration, which has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/serious-mistake-trump-admin-moves-to-dismiss-challenge-to-mail-order-abortion-pills" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pulled some punches</a> against the abortion pill, took steps earlier this month to reevaluate the pill. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that he would conduct a review of mifepristone and its widespread use.

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Lee Zeldin

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has committed to reviewing the abortion pill&#8217;s safety, according to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
Hawley posted a letter he received from Makary on social media, noting the FDA head promised to review the safety of mifepristone, the popular abortion drug.
&#8220;As the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, I am committed to conducting a review of mifepristone and working with the professional career scientists at the Agency who review this data,&#8221; Makary wrote in his letter to Hawley.
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FDA chief Marty Makary just committed to me to do a full review of the chemical abortion drug’s safety: “As Commissioner of Food and Drugs, I am committed to conducting a review of mifepristone” 👇 <a href="https://t.co/nMxUhE18UA">pic.twitter.com/nMxUhE18UA</a>
&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1929696353010987013?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;As with all drugs, FDA continues to closely monitor the postmarketing safety data on mifepristone for the medical termination of early pregnancy,&#8221; Makary wrote.
Makary also noted that mifepristone is currently enmeshed in legal battles.
&#8220;FDA generally does not comment on matters that are the subject of pending litigation and therefore is unable to provide further information on this topic at this time,&#8221; the FDA chief said.
&#8220;FDA is committed to safeguarding public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and quality of the products it regulates,&#8221; Makary wrote. &#8220;The Agency carefully evaluates the scientific data, leveraging rigorous science to make informed decisions.&#8221;
The two-pill chemical abortion regimen — mifepristone, usually followed by misoprostol — aims to end the life of the unborn baby and expel it from the woman’s uterus. However, the drugs sometimes fail to expel all the fetal tissue, which can cause life-threatening complications.
An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abortion-pill-22-times-more-dangerous-than-fda-claimed-new-study-says?author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Abortion+Pill+22+Times+More+Dangerous+Than+FDA+Claimed%2C+New+Study+Says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> released in April found that more than one in 10 women experienced a “serious adverse event” after taking the mifepristone abortion pill in 2023. This can include hemorrhaging, needing a blood transfusion, an emergency room visit, and even deadly conditions like sepsis.
That is about 22 times higher than what the FDA listed on its label for the brand Mifeprex in 2023. The FDA <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2023/020687Orig1s025Lbl.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> clinical studies saying less than 0.5% of women suffered “serious adverse reactions” to mifepristone.
Meanwhile, more than one in 20 women need a second abortion attempt after the abortion pill fails, another analysis of insurance claim data <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-than-1-in-20-women-need-second-abortion-attempt-after-abortion-pill-fails?author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=More+Than+1+in+20+Women+Need+Second+Abortion+Attempt+After+Abortion+Pill+Fails" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> this week showed.
Last month, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services, told lawmakers he had requested the FDA do a “complete review” of the abortion pill in the wake of the new data.
“It’s alarming,” RFK Jr. told Hawley during a Senate committee hearing.
“Clearly, it indicates that at the very least the label should be changed,” he said. “I’ve asked Marty Makary, who’s the director of the FDA, to do a complete review and to report back.”
A few months before Roe v. Wade was overturned, the FDA scrapped the requirement that women must obtain abortion pills in person from a healthcare provider, allowing them to get them online through the mail.

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At first glance, it may look like abortion access in America is shrinking.
Since 2020, dozens of brick-and-mortar abortion facilities have closed. It might be easy to assume this means fewer abortions are happening. But the numbers tell a different — and more urgent — story.
According to research from the University of California’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, there were 758 brick-and-mortar abortion facilities in the United States in 2020. By 2023, that number had dropped slightly to 741.
But what’s been largely overlooked is this: 226 new virtual abortion “clinics” opened during that same period. The net result? There are now more access points for abortion in America than at any time in the past decade — 967 in total.
This dramatic shift is having real consequences. The Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion access, estimates there were over 1 million abortions in 2023 — up from 930,160 in 2020. Telemedicine abortions now account for roughly 20% of all abortions nationwide, and organizations like Aid Access and Plan C offer mail-order abortion pills with little to no medical oversight or regulation.
This is not just a policy debate — it’s a public health crisis in the making.
Over the past several years, the Food and Drug Administration has steadily loosened the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for mifepristone, one of the drugs used in chemical abortions. What used to require in-person dispensing and medical supervision now often happens without an ultrasound, without lab work, and without an in-person medical visit.
In the world of mail-order abortions, many women never see a doctor before, during, or after the abortion.
This systematic removal of actual healthcare from the abortion process has consequences. Women may be further along in pregnancy than they realize — something only an ultrasound can confirm. They may have undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies or other medical complications that can be fatal if the abortion pill is taken. They may hemorrhage, suffer infection, or be left alone in a moment of real crisis with no medical professional to perform emergency care.
No legitimate area of medicine is allowed to operate this way. If a woman miscarried at home, she would be told to seek prompt medical care. But in the case of abortion, the prevailing approach is increasingly to mail a few pills and send a woman on her way — with no verification that she’s even a candidate for the drug, and no one to follow up with her if something goes wrong.
Meanwhile, the abortion industry continues to innovate — not to offer better care, but to make abortions more accessible and less visible. Clinics in permissive states are multiplying. Pro-abortion organizations are funding interstate travel. Online abortion pill networks continue to grow, many of them operating outside the regulations of state or federal officials.
So what does this mean for those of us working to support women facing unexpected pregnancies?
It means we must meet women where they are — online, on their phones, in the quiet of their uncertainty.
Pregnancy help organizations, long known for offering compassionate care and real alternatives to abortion, are rising to the challenge. Many are adapting to this new landscape by offering virtual consultations, telehealth services, and chat-based support through national hotlines. In fact, over the past year alone, the number of pregnancy help organizations offering telehealth has <a href="https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/lifetrends" target="_blank" rel="noopener">grown by 172%</a>.
This isn’t just about keeping pace with change — it’s about ensuring that women know they still have real choices and about keeping them safe. While abortion providers invade digital spaces with minimal accountability, pregnancy help centers are doing the hard work of offering personalized care — often at no cost — along with life-affirming solutions like housing, medical services, and material support for mothers and babies.
The battleground has shifted. But so has the movement that exists to walk with women through one of the most vulnerable seasons of their lives.
We cannot afford to assume that a decrease in physical abortion facilities means the need for pregnancy help is any less urgent. If anything, the need is growing — because the silence and secrecy of the digital abortion era leave many women more isolated than ever before.
That’s why innovation and compassion must go hand in hand. In a world where abortion is a click away, the vital human connection offered by pregnancy help should be as well.
Andrea Trudden is vice president of communications at Heartbeat International.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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More than one in 20 women need a second abortion attempt after the abortion pill fails, a new analysis of insurance claim data shows.
Over 5% of women had to undergo a repeat abortion attempt within 45 days of taking mifepristone, indicating that the first mifepristone abortion attempt failed, <a href="https://eppc.org/publication/the-abortion-pill-harms-womeninsurance-data-reveals-repeated-abortionattempts-due-to-high-failure-rate/">according to an analysis</a> from the Ethics and Public Policy Center released Monday. The Center analyzed insurance claims data from 865,727 mifepristone abortions between 2017 and 2023.
A total of 45,498 women needed a second abortion attempt to complete their abortions after mifepristone failed, the data show. Of those women, 24,563 needed a surgical abortion procedure. Nearly 7,000 women underwent both a second medication abortion attempt and a surgical abortion attempt after their first mifepristone attempt failed, the analysis found.
This is the latest evidence that advocates have misconstrued the safety and efficacy of the abortion pill. An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abortion-pill-22-times-more-dangerous-than-fda-claimed-new-study-says?author=Mairead+Elordi&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Abortion+Pill+22+Times+More+Dangerous+Than+FDA+Claimed%2C+New+Study+Says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> released last month found that more than one in 10 women experienced a “serious adverse event” after taking the mifepristone abortion pill in 2023. This can include hemorrhaging, needing a blood transfusion, an emergency room visit, and even deadly conditions like sepsis.
That is about 22 times higher than what the FDA listed on its label for the brand Mifeprex in 2023. The FDA <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2023/020687Orig1s025Lbl.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> clinical studies saying less than 0.5% of women suffered “serious adverse reactions” to mifepristone.
The two-pill chemical abortion regimen — mifepristone, usually followed by misoprostol — aims to end the life of the unborn baby and expel it from the woman’s uterus. However, the drugs sometimes fail to expel all the fetal tissue, which can cause life-threatening complications.
Nearly 14% of women experience either a serious adverse event or repeat abortion attempt after taking the abortion pill, Monday&#8217;s analysis found. The report&#8217;s authors concluded that the FDA should immediately reinstate the stronger patient safety protocols it previously had in place for mifepristone.
A few months before Roe v. Wade was overturned, the FDA scrapped the requirement that women must obtain abortion pills in person from a healthcare provider, allowing them to obtain them online through the mail.
The FDA should also mandate reporting of the abortion pill&#8217;s side effects and &#8220;reconsider its approval altogether,&#8221; concluded the analysis&#8217; co-authors, Ryan Anderson, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and Jamie Bryan Hall, the Center&#8217;s Director of Data Analysis.
&#8220;Our real-world data represents the actual experiences of women who take the abortion pill in the U.S. today,&#8221; the authors told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;These women may have preexisting health conditions and may not receive proper care before, during, or after the abortion. The women recruited into the clinical trials were relatively young and healthy, and they received a carefully controlled regimen of care. Frequent in-person visits would have enabled doctors to diagnose and treat any side effects earlier, before they could become serious. This is how it should be for every woman!&#8221; they said.
&#8220;This is why it&#8217;s so important for the FDA, at a minimum, to reinstate its original safety protocols, which more closely resemble the conditions of a clinical trial,&#8221; the authors said. &#8220;Both proponents and opponents of legalized abortion should be able to support this move to protect women&#8217;s health.&#8221;
Anderson and Hall also emphasized that pro-life laws are not to blame for complications from the abortion pill, as some abortion advocates have claimed.
&#8220;Those who blame the failures of the abortion pill on pro-life laws are deeply mistaken, if not downright dishonest. Every woman should seek medical care in an emergency, and every doctor should provide life-saving care without fear of reprisal,&#8221; they said.
Medication abortions are far more common than surgical abortions. Medication abortions made up 63% of all abortions in 2023, up from 31% in 2014, <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/medication-abortion-accounted-63-all-us-abortions-2023-increase-53-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute.
The abortion pill is likely the main factor driving up the country’s total number of abortions in recent years, even in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Abortion advocates have argued that the abortion pill should be more available to order online now that some Republican-led states ban abortion.
Mifepristone was originally approved by the FDA in 2000.

Portrait Series at the Supreme Court’s Oral Arguments Over Whether to Restrict Access to Mifepristone in Washington, DC

More Than 1 in 20 Women Need Second Abortion Attempt After Abortion Pill Fails

One of the most commonly prescribed abortion pharmaceuticals in the United States today is one of the most dangerous substances in the world, according to groundbreaking new research. Sadly, it&#8217;s not as polarizing a product as Ozempic or vaccines.
According to a <a href="https://eppc.org/news/largest-ever-study-of-abortion-pill-reveals-shocking-number-of-adverse-events/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bombshell new study</a> using real-world data, the abortion pill is physically wounding thousands of women per year.
When the Food &amp; Drug Administration approved the abortion pill – mifepristone or Mifeprex – it was on the basis that clinical trials had shown a serious adverse event rate of less than 0.5%.
But the new research, which analyzed 865,727 mifepristone abortions between 2017-2023, found a serious adverse event rate of 11%. That&#8217;s twenty-two times higher than the figure cited on the drug label.
These adverse events are not mere side effects. Hemorrhage, sepsis, infection, cardiac distress, and incomplete abortions are part of the laundry list of complications suffered by women within 45 days of taking the abortion pill.
The figures come from an all-payer health claims database. Insurance companies don&#8217;t pay for things that didn&#8217;t happen. The research was published by the Ethics &amp; Public Policy Center, which has promised more is to come.
If these serious adverse events were caused by a common antibiotic or a diabetes medication, media outrage and mass public uproar would ensue. 
Reckless conduct in the service of political ideology got us here. In the final year of the Obama administration, the Department of Health and Human Services watered down safety regulations. They allowed the abortion pill to be prescribed by non-physicians, taken at home away from the watchful eye of medical professionals, and extended the maximum gestational age at which a child could be aborted from seven weeks to ten weeks.
The Biden administration took this ghoulish crusade a step further. In 2023, they removed virtually all safeguards to the extent that a woman can now order abortion pills online, take them at home, risk bleeding out, flush her aborted child down the toilet, and go it alone, all without ever seeing a doctor.
It is up to the new Trump administration to restore some sanity. President Trump has been notoriously fickle on abortion, as has his HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy.
<a href="https://catholicvote.org/catholicvote-joins-urges-trump-admin-to-reevaluate-abortion-pill/?mkt_tok=NDI3LUxFUS0wNjYAAAGaJQObGcXkcfyZbJ7FjQNwks_nKJ9XiOo9VXl6pBbxneaC7Ri29G__kqN2XupSy1lr5nuPJN-ynFfzQylzGOSa83kCwwhMt68zcxRRaMq0ww">Just this week,</a> CatholicVote joined a coalition of 30 other pro-life organizations urging President Trump to re-evaluate the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone in light of the study’s disturbing discoveries.
Both Kennedy and newly-installed FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary have expressed a commitment to prioritizing women&#8217;s safety in regard to the abortion pill. Upon questioning from Sen. Steve Daines of Montana during his confirmation hearings, Kennedy promised to study the abortion pill and take action on any new developments. Dr. Makary has expressed similar rhetoric, although he <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/04/24/2025/fdas-marty-makary-no-plans-to-pull-abortion-pill-mifepristone">stated</a> in late April that he had &#8220;no plans&#8221; to restrict the pill until the data could be examined thoroughly.
The question now is whether health and safety will take priority over abortion absolutism. There are too many women suffering silently for the administration to do nothing.
* * *
Tommy Valentine is the Director of the Catholic Accountability Project at CatholicVote.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Wyoming’s Only Abortion Clinic Forced To Stop Administering Abortions Due To New State Law

It’s Long Past Time To Re-Evaluate Chemical Abortion Pills

It's Long Past Time to Re-Evaluate Chemical Abortion Pills

Biden Administration

Catholics

Department of Health and Human Services

Drugs

Obama Administration

Opinion

Pregnancy

Trump Administration

The Trump administration on Monday moved to dismiss a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s lax abortion pill guidelines, which have opened the floodgates of dangerous mail-order abortions. 
The Justice Department said in a 15-page court filing that a suit from the Republican attorneys general of Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas challenging the FDA’s decision was not filed in the right location and should be dismissed. The red states argue that the FDA overlooked the dangers of the abortion pill when it relaxed guidelines in recent years to allow for the pills to be shipped through the mail. 
In his <a href="https://ecf.txnd.uscourts.gov/doc1/177117665842" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filing</a>, Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakoth Roth mirrored the Biden administration&#8217;s position, which defended the FDA’s loose abortion pill regulations. He argued that the states’ “claims have no connection” to the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas, where the suit was filed.
The Trump administration&#8217;s decision will likely anger Republicans and pro-life advocates. As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-leftist-networks-flood-red-states-with-risky-abortion-pills-with-no-consequences" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, there are networks of leftist activists who ship abortion pills, often unregulated ones manufactured in foreign countries, into states where abortion is illegal. These networks send pills to anyone with access to a credit card and mailing address for less than $100. Purported users of the abortion pills often report on social media horror stories of doing the procedures, and recount stories of flushing large chunks of aborted babies down the toilet.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser urged the Trump administration to take steps to reign in the abortion pill, pointing out the documented dangers.
&#8220;At a minimum, the Trump administration should reverse the Biden FDA’s reckless nationwide mail-order <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/health/abortion-pills-fda.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/health/abortion-pills-fda.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1746638991803000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3irGakSxGjGmPUIRCB_tSS">abortion drug policy</a>,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We urge the Trump administration to reinstate basic measures that require real medical oversight. Women and girls deserve better than high-risk drugs with no in-person doctor, no follow-up and no accountability.&#8221;
&#8220;This isn’t health care,&#8221; Dannenfelser added. &#8220;It’s harm.”
The case originated after the Republican attorneys general had interceded in another case brought by pro-life doctors concerned about the FDA guidelines on mifepristone and other abortion drugs. That case was later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-rejects-challenge-to-abortion-pill-in-setback-for-pro-life-movement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> by the Supreme Court, which said the doctors lacked standing, and the Republican officials revised their complaint. 
“At bottom, the States cannot keep alive a lawsuit in which the original plaintiffs were held to lack standing, those plaintiffs have now voluntarily dismissed their claims, and the States’ own claims have no connection to this District,” Roth wrote. “The States are free to pursue their claims in a District where venue is proper.”
Roth also wrote that the states failed &#8220;to identify any actual or imminent controversy over whether any of their laws are preempted.&#8221;
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey responded on Tuesday to the filing by pointing to evidence showing the established dangers of so-called self-managed abortions.
&#8220;Beyond a reasonable doubt, the evidence clearly establishes that mifepristone poses a grave risk to the health of women. The most recent study says 1 in 9 women who ingest this powerful chemical will end up in the ER or worse,&#8221; Bailey posted on X. &#8220;Regardless of which venue is proper for a lawsuit, Missouri will always fight to protect the health and safety of women and demand the FDA acknowledge the data and reinstate critical regulations to prevent the needless loss of human life.&#8221;
At the heart of the challenge to the FDA was the out-of-control abortion pill black market that has cropped up following the end of Roe v. Wade.
&#8220;Removing the in-person dispensing protections enabled a 50-state mail order abortion drug economy—a world where countless women in Plaintiff States receive abortion drugs by mail later in pregnancy with no in-person care and go the emergency room in Plaintiffs’ States,&#8221; the Republican AGs wrote in their suit.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-leftist-networks-flood-red-states-with-risky-abortion-pills-with-no-consequences" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: How A Leftist Network Of Websites Floods Red States With Abortion Pills With No Consequences</a>
In addition to ending the life of the unborn child, the abortion pill often has health consequences for the mother. One <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abortion-pill-22-times-more-dangerous-than-fda-claimed-new-study-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent study</a> found that over 11% of women had a &#8220;serious adverse&#8221; medical event after taking the pill, including things like hemorrhaging and sepsis.
Another study from the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scholars-continue-fight-against-journal-over-retraction-of-studies-showing-danger-of-abortion-pill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that the rate of emergency room visits following chemical abortions had spiked 500% from 2002-2015. That study was later redacted for political reasons ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the abortion pill, the study&#8217;s authors say.
Reacting to the news of the move to dismiss, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), an outspoken pro-life advocate, said that the administration was making a &#8220;serious mistake.&#8221;

US-NEWS-SCOTUS-ABORTION-PILL-NEWSOM-TB

‘Serious Mistake’: Trump Admin Moves To Dismiss Challenge To Mail-Order Abortion Pills

Department of Justice

As the Senate considers Dr. Martin Makary’s nomination to lead the Food and Drug Administration, the safety of all Americans — especially women and children — must be a top priority. For far too long, the FDA has been grossly negligent regarding essential safeguards surrounding the abortion-inducing drug mifepristone. Dr. Makary’s initial hearing provided a glimpse into his commitment to <a href="https://grabien.com/file/getmedia?id=2831540&amp;key=756f0397187f6b49fdaab04e60406327&amp;userid=17147">data-based approaches</a> to providing the best care for our patients. I’m hopeful that this expected confirmation will stand as a first step to the FDA reprioritizing the health and safety of women and children.
Despite the common refrain that abortion should be a decision &#8220;between a woman and her doctor,&#8221; doctors are too often left out of the picture by what has become a highly politicized and aggressively pro-abortion FDA. To the detriment of women’s health and safety, the FDA has for too long made women’s health a pawn in abortion politics by promoting drug-induced abortions as safe and recklessly ignoring the necessity of proper medical oversight.
Due in large part to the Biden-era FDA’s gutting of the requirements necessary to take mifepristone, women today are denied crucial medical care in life’s most vulnerable moments. In fact, the FDA has recklessly removed its requirements that women meet with a doctor before taking abortion drugs, thereby denying women the chance to be screened for life-threatening conditions like ectopic pregnancy or to confirm how far along she is in her pregnancy. 
My 20 years of caring for women as an OB/GYN have affirmed what the medical literature <a href="https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2017/05/methods-for-estimating-the-due-date">shows</a> — the only way to ensure accurate dating of a pregnancy is to examine a woman in person, ideally with an ultrasound. This is crucial, because an error of just a couple of weeks could mean a significant increase in risk for the woman if she takes these drugs.
To be clear, I would never recommend dangerous drug-induced or surgical abortions to any woman or teen who comes to me for care, especially when so many life-affirming alternatives exist to effectively care for both mother and child. 
The FDA also shamefully fails to require any follow-up visits, even though their own label on mifepristone states roughly one in 25 women who take it will end up in the emergency room. Selling women the lie that these drugs are safe, especially without the benefit of ongoing care with a doctor, is unethical.
With the urging of abortion advocates, and without appropriate evidence to support it, the FDA has also allowed abortion drugs to be shipped to women by mail, delivered straight to their doorsteps. This move not only puts women in danger of taking <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/01/the-web-is-home-to-an-illegal-bazaar-for-abortion-pills-the-fda-is-ill-equipped-to-stop-it-00048802">counterfeit drugs</a> that could cause them harm, but it also makes them <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/hidden-epidemic-nearly-70-of-abortions-are-coerced-unwanted-or-inconsistent-with-womens-preferences/">vulnerable to coercion and abuse.</a>
The new FDA leadership must prioritize women’s health by implementing key reforms. 
First, they should reinstate the requirement for in-person doctor visits so women can receive individualized counseling and fully informed consent, along with being adequately screened for potentially life-threatening conditions. It&#8217;s a simple but essential principle of medical ethics that patients have a right to informed consent before taking these high-risk drugs — something that can only happen with an in-person visit and individualized counseling. Even the pro-abortion American College of OB/GYNs (ACOG) <a href="https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2021/02/informed-consent-and-shared-decision-making-in-obstetrics-and-gynecology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notes</a> that an adequate informed consent process is one where patients are “free to ask questions” and make a choice about their care, including refusing treatment. It’s impossible to have this tailored conversation when abortion drugs are dispensed online with no in-person interaction with a medical professional.
Next, should a woman choose to pursue a drug-induced abortion, the FDA should restore the seven week gestational age limit (currently 10 weeks) to decrease the risks associated with these drugs, as well as require abortion providers to see a woman for a follow&#8211;up visit to ensure her abortion is complete and to evaluate for and treat any complications she might be experiencing. This would be consistent with what was originally recommended when the drug entered the market and would reduce risks to women. With these protections in place, our federal leaders, regardless of their personal position on induced abortion, can at the very least reduce the risk of women dying from complications of abortion drugs and ensure that all women are receiving fully informed consent before taking them.
Reinstating the FDA’s original safety regulations for mifepristone is an essential first step toward protecting the health and safety of women across the nation. Women and girls seeking an induced abortion are often in a vulnerable and uncertain time of their lives. Rather than ensuring that they receive accurate information and ongoing medical care, the FDA has sold them a lie and denied them appropriate care. We all should work together to bring this negligence to an end.
Women and girls deserve the best medical care possible that is individualized and evidence-based. I&#8217;m hopeful that with Dr. Makary&#8217;s leadership the FDA will restore safety as the priority for American women and girls. Our patients deserve nothing less.
* * *
Christina Francis, MD is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist practicing as an obstetric hospitalist. She also serves as CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The beginning of a beautiful bond

FDA’s New Leadership Must Put Women’s Health And Safety First

Doctors

Women

Ten scientists filed their opening demand against a major academic publisher after they say it retracted their work exposing the dangers of the abortion pill for political reasons.
In a recently filed <a href="https://assaultonscience.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/02/2025.02.21-SvS-Arbitration-Demand_Redacted.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arbitration demand</a>, ten Charlotte Lozier-affiliated scholars say that Sage Publications discriminated against them and violated its contractual obligations when it retracted three of their studies, including two on the abortion drug Mifepristone. They want a judge to rule that the retractions were erroneous and that they were discriminated against based on their beliefs.
One of the now-retracted <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23333928211053965" target="_blank" rel="noopener">studies</a>, published November 9, 2021, found that the rate of emergency room visits following chemical abortions had spiked 500% from 2002-2015, according to Medicaid claims data. Another one of the studies, published May 20, 2022, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23333928221103107" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analyzed the likelihood</a> of recurring emergency room visits for women who did not disclose to doctors that they had a chemical abortion.
These two studies were <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.370067/gov.uscourts.txnd.370067.137.0_19.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> in Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-in-texas-suspends-fda-approval-of-abortion-pill-used-in-up-to-half-of-abortions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a> to suspend FDA approval of mifepristone.
“Sage’s reasons for retracting the Articles were pretextual. Sage did not point to anything that could justify the rare and severe measure of retraction under prevailing professional guidelines, such as a major error or falsification,” the scholars&#8217; opening arbitration demand filed by lawyers with the Alliance Defending Freedom and Consovoy McCarthy says.
The February 2024 retractions, which occurred weeks before the Supreme Court heard arguments on the availability of abortion pills, were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/completely-unjustified-medical-journal-retracts-major-studies-critical-of-abortion-pill-ahead-of-supreme-court-clash">first reported</a> by The Daily Wire.
The lawyers argue that Sage breached its contract with the scholars, was guilty of negligence, and violated California&#8217;s civil rights law.
“The combined reputational and economic harm to the Authors from these unlawful actions is enormous and incalculable,” the filing adds. “Because of Sage’s retractions, the Authors and their research have been attacked by the media, by other authors, and even by a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Authors have had new research proposals inexplicably turned away by other journals that now fear associating with them. The Authors have years—even decades—of fruitful research ahead of them, but they are now being treated as pariahs.”
Dr. James Studnicki, one of the authors on the papers, was also kicked off the editorial board of Sage’s Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology journal, months before the retractions actually took place. The filing says that this was done for discriminatory purposes.
For resolution, the scholars say that a judge should rule that the scholars and Studnicki were discriminated against, that Sage violated its contractual agreement, a declaration that the retractions were erroneous, and monetary damages.
The scholars first filed their lawsuit against Sage in October 2024 in California. Sage did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Appeals Court Keeps Abortion Pill Mifepristone Available, But With Restrictions

Scholars Continue Fight Against Journal Over Retraction Of Studies Showing Danger Of Abortion Pill

Academia

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

California

Social Issues

U.S.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul refused on Thursday to extradite an abortionist accused of illegally mailing an abortion pill to a Louisiana mother who allegedly pressured her minor daughter into ending the life of her unborn child.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed an <a href="https://gov.louisiana.gov/assets/2025-Extras/Extradition-warran-Doctor-Margaret-Carpenter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extradition warrant</a> this week for New York abortionist Margaret Carpenter after she was indicted on charges of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. Hochul said that she would not sign Louisiana’s order of extradition, citing the state&#8217;s abortion &#8220;shield&#8221; laws.
“This office received an order of extradition for a New York doctor, an abortion provider who lives upstate. In the state of New York, at my direction, we have put in place strict shield laws that anticipated this very situation,” Hochul <a href="https://x.com/GovKathyHochul/status/1890175495670775913" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We knew &#8230; we had providers who could be vulnerable. Louisiana has changed their laws, but that has no bearing on the laws here in the state of New York.”
“Doctors take an oath to protect their patients. I took an oath of office to protect all New Yorkers. And I will uphold not only our constitution, but the laws of our land,” she said.
Carpenter is accused of mailing abortion drugs to a woman in Louisiana who then pressured her underage daughter into taking them and ending the life of her unborn child.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill <a href="https://x.com/AGLizMurrill/status/1890214240142913793" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shot back</a> at Hochul, saying that she was covering up for a “drug dealer.”
“This child was NOT this doctor’s patient. She never met her, saw her, or knew anything about her. The child is a victim. [Hochul] is protecting a drug dealer who victimized a child,” Murrill posted on X.
Landry <a href="https://gov.louisiana.gov/news/4764" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the minor was “excited” to have the baby and was planning a gender reveal party before her mother intervened.
<a class="c-link" href="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-7935">PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40</a>
“Her mom conspired with a New York doctor to get a chemical abortion pill in the mail and then forced that minor to take it,” Landry said as he signed the extradition order. “This pill ended up ending her pregnancy and that baby’s life.”
Carpenter was also sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-stops-radical-abortionist-unlawfully-supplying-dangerous-drugs-kill#:~:text=Attorney%20General%20Ken%20Paxton%20has,in%20violation%20of%20state%20law." target="_blank" rel="noopener">secured</a> a $100,000 penalty and permanent injunction against her on Friday. He sued Carpenter for allegedly sending abortion pills into Texas in violation of state law.
“In Texas, we will always protect innocent life and uphold the laws that protect mothers and unborn babies,” Paxton said Friday. “Radical out-of-state doctors will not be allowed to peddle dangerous and illegal drugs in Texas to kill unborn babies. Any doctor attempting to do so will be punished to the full extent of the law.”

At Least 10 Killed In New Orleans After Truck Plows Into Crowd On Bourbon St

Louisiana Battles New York Over Abortionist Accused Of Mailing Abortion Drugs

Crime

Jeff Landry

Kathy Hochul

Louisiana

New York

When it overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Supreme Court eliminated the biggest legal obstacle to advancing the pro-life cause. But our fight has never been a fight against Roe v. Wade. It’s a fight for life – one that is only just beginning.
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court said that regulating abortion belonged in the hands of the people and their elected representatives. Since then, nearly half the states have passed pro-life laws of different kinds – while others have doubled down on their pro-abortion policies.
Pro-abortion states and activists, however, are not content with legally protecting abortion where they live. They are now passing so-called abortion “shield” laws designed to undermine the ability of pro-life states to enforce their own laws.
Normally, states cooperate with each other when, for example, it comes to returning individuals to where they have committed crimes. This cooperation is required by the Constitution, and by multiple agreements that most states have signed.
Abortion shield laws break from that tradition, potentially causing irreparable damage to the interstate comity that has characterized the United States for so long.
But abortion shield laws also undermine traditional medical practice, which has long considered the location of medical care to be that of the patient, not the doctor.
In 2022, for example, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), the board representing state medical and osteopathic boards, adopted a policy stating that the “practice of medicine occurs where the patient is located.” This is true, the FSMB said, even when a patient receives telemedicine: the state of care is the state in which the patient is located.
But states such as California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Washington have passed laws reversing this principle so that the laws of an abortionist’s state apply.
This poses extreme risks, especially now that a majority of abortions are caused by drugs rather than surgery. It allows abortionists to mail abortion drugs into pro-life states while claiming that a completely different state’s laws apply – even though women receive, use, and (in case of complications) are treated for those drugs under the laws of their home state.
Abortion advocates know this is both nonsensical and dangerous.
The primary authors of this abortion shield strategy <a href="https://review.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/02/Cohen-76-Stan.-L.-Rev.-317.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledge</a> that “[s]tandard telehealth practice considers medical care to have occurred where the patient is located.” They also concede that “there are important reasons for defining care as occurring where the patient is located,” and that “shifting the location of care is a significant departure from the standard of care, the provisions of state medical practice acts, and the guidance of professional organizations.”
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They even admit that “the state where the patient resides typically has the strongest interest” and best means of protecting the safety of the resident patient.
Yet while abortion activists know all of this, for them, nothing comes close to matching the importance of maximizing abortion in this country. Nothing, not even protecting women’s health, can compete with killing unborn children.
Thus, they turn a blind eye while doctors prescribe and provide abortion drugs to patients they will never see in person – and whom they will not treat in the case of resulting complications.
The pro-life cause requires not only passing laws that protect the unborn but also being able to enforce those laws. These abortion shield laws have the same objective as the Supreme Court did in Roe v. Wade: forcing abortion upon states that oppose it. The March for Life calls us to fight for life on these new fronts, meaning it’s not outdated – it’s more important than ever.
* * *
Thomas Jipping is a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-POLITICS-ABORTION

Abortion ‘Shield’ Laws: The Next Front In The Battle For Life

Abortion 'Shield' Laws: The Next Front In The Battle For Life

Dobbs

Heritage Foundation

March For Life

North Carolina Republican Congressman Mark Harris introduced legislation on Friday that would block doctors from sending abortion drugs through the mail, he told The Daily Wire.
Harris put forward the “Teleabortion Prevention Act” to block doctors from providing women with drugs to end the life of their unborn child without conducting a physical exam or being physically present. The <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/HARRNC_004_xml.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a>, introduced as pro-lifers gather in Washington, D.C., for the March for Life, would mean doctors could face up to two years in prison if they send an abortion drug through the mail for a “self-managed” abortion. 
“In the country, getting an abortion is as easy as walking to your mailbox. What this bill seeks to do is to protect women from that and it really just gives them an opportunity to be in a position to know what they’re doing,” Harris, a freshman representative, told The Daily Wire. 
He said the bill would block the mailing of abortion drugs across the country. Chemical abortions are now estimated to make up over half of all abortions and have only increased since Roe v. Wade was overturned. 
“If you’re in New York and you&#8217;re mailing those pills into Texas, then that’s going to be criminal. That’s going to be a problem,” Harris added, saying that the bill was in part motivated by the FDA loosening its guidelines on mailing abortion drugs in January. 
The legislation would prevent doctors across the country from giving abortion pills to women “without physically examining the patient,” &#8220;without being physically present at the location of the chemical abortion,” and “without scheduling a follow-up visit.” Doctors who violate the law could be fined $1,000 and subject to two years in prison. 
The legislation would not allow women to be prosecuted over abortion and would not impact ectopic pregnancies. 
“I believe God is the creator of life. I believe He’s the one that gives life and I think that we are bound to protect it in every way we can,” Harris told The Daily Wire. “When we see a life taken in the womb we are seeing the place that should be the safest place anyone would ever be on the face of the earth, and that’s in her mother&#8217;s womb, absolutely invaded and destroyed.” 
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Co-sponsors of the legislation include Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde (GA), Robert Aderholt (AL), Daniel Webster (FL), Brandon Gill (TX), Mary Miller (IL), and Michael Cloud (TX). Conservative organizations like SBA Pro-Life America, Heritage Action, March for Life Action, and the Family Research Council are also backing the legislation. 
Abortion pills have flown into red states since the end of Roe, including in states where chemical abortions are banned. These pills are often sent by leftist activist networks <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-leftist-networks-flood-red-states-with-risky-abortion-pills-with-no-consequences" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who send pills</a> to anyone without any age verification or medical input. 
In December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ken-paxton-sues-ny-abortionist-for-unlawfully-mailing-abortion-drugs-to-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed a lawsuit</a> against a New York abortionist accusing her of unlawfully mailing abortion drugs to a woman in Texas. The suit said the pill caused damage to the woman and ended the life of her unborn child.

New RU-486 Pill Now Available

North Carolina Republican Introduces Bill To Crack Down On Abortion By Mail

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