Pro-life group pushes EPA to regulate mifepristone in water

Students for Life of America on Friday urged the Environmental Protection Agency to consider regulating levels of the abortion drug mifepristone in drinking water. Mifepristone can enter water supplies when women flush the remains of pre-born children aborted by use of the drug. The pro-life activist group said it submitted a peer-reviewed study published this week in the journal Issues in Law & Medicine for EPA review, as an advisory committee is determining whether to recommend changes to the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The study’s results showed statistically significant levels of mifepristone in water from three American cities: Blacksburg, Va., Carbondale, Ill., and Austin, Texas. The study’s authors collaborated with Students for Life to conduct the study, and one of the authors is an unpaid associate scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute. The researchers said they found mifepristone in both untreated and treated city water as well as in tap water.

The highest level of mifepristone found in water downstream of a water treatment plant was 36 parts per trillion, located in Carbondale, Ill. A tap water sample from Austin, Texas, contained 39 parts per trillion of mifepristone, though the city’s treated water contained much less.

For context, how much is one part per trillion? One part per trillion is equal to one drop in over 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. However, the EPA’s standards for some contaminants in drinking water are much lower than the levels of mifepristone detected in the study. For example, the maximum allowed levels of PFAS “forever chemicals” are set at four parts per trillion.

It’s unclear exactly how much buildup of hormones and endocrine-disrupting compounds in water affect human and animal health. However, the study raised concerns that since mifepristone is an anti-progesterone synthetic steroid, its presence in drinking water could alter fertility, pregnancy, and fetal development.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s story on Wisconsin legislation over this issue for more details.

—This report has been updated to correct the name of the journal Issues in Law & Medicine.