Sen. Hawley introduces bill to ban chemical abortion pill mifepristone

WASHINGTON—Surrounded by 20 women holding signs, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., announced the Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortions Act to ban the abortifacient mifepristone. Even though 17 states have laws that protect unborn life at or before six weeks of gestation, the Federal Drug Administration does not prohibit mifepristone delivery to those states. The drug has been mailed across state lines, and in 2021, the FDA rolled back a requirement for an in-person doctor appointment to access mifepristone due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the monthly average of abortions in 2025 was nearly 100,000, up from roughly 80,000 in 2022, before Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Is mifepristone dangerous? Four women said during the news conference that they did not receive adequate medical guidance when each took the abortifacient. Although a black box warning on mifepristone does warn that some users could experience an adverse health event, some studies have shown the rates of those events are much higher than the warning suggests.

• Elizabeth Gillette said that she was misled to believe that taking mifepristone would only cause a more intense period. Instead, she said she lost a lot of blood, and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

• Shanyce Thomas said she was put on life support after intense bleeding for more than a week after she took the pill.

• Louisiana resident Rebekah Hagan said that when she took the pill in California in 2013, abortionists did not provide her with any options aside from abortion.

• Fellow Louisiana resident Rosalie Markezich is currently suing the FDA. She said her boyfriend forced her to take mifepristone, which he obtained through a mail order, even though the state bans the drug.

• Mayra Rodriguez was a Planned Parenthood director in Arizona for 17 years. She said she was instructed to tell women to simply take pain medication, to flush their babies down the toilet, and not to tell doctors that they took mifepristone if the women had to go to the emergency room. She said she often received phone calls at night from women who were experiencing severe complications.

What would Hawley’s bill do? If passed, the legislation would act as a total ban on mifepristone for the use of abortion. It can be prescribed in some cases for other medical conditions. It would withdraw FDA approval and give women who took the pill standing to take the drugmakers to court. Hawley said he will work to change hearts and minds to get the bill the support of 60 senators needed to overcome a filibuster. But he might not have the support of the White House. Last week, the Justice Department moved to dismiss Missouri v. FDA, a case arising in Hawley’s home state, arguing that the courts should pause an effort to block mail-order mifepristone while the FDA conducts a safety review. Hawley has clashed with the FDA, arguing that Commissioner Marty Makary has slow-rolled that review. In response to a question from WORLD, Hawley said Congress needs to take responsibility to legislate and permanently block mifepristone.

Dig deeper: Read my report with Lauren Canterberry about growing frustration from the pro-life movement with the Trump administration.