Senate Hearing Will Focus on How Abortion Pills Hurt Women
The Senate is set to probe the risks of chemical abortion drugs that pro-life advocates say are not only ending the lives of unborn children but also severely harming thousands of women.
A hearing tomorrow is aimed at exposing the dangers of the widely used abortion pill that has killed millions of babies and injured thousands of women.
Led by Sen. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the session is titled “Protecting Women: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs.”
“As a doctor and a strong pro-life conservative, I am committed to protecting mothers and the unborn. The medical evidence is clear: chemical abortion drugs not only kill innocent babies, but also put women in serious danger. As Chairman of the HELP Committee, I look forward to discussing how to uphold a culture of life and prioritize women’s safety over political ideology,” Cassidy said.
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The push for scrutiny comes amid calls from pro-life groups for the Trump administration to reverse Biden-era policies allowing abortion pills to be mailed directly to women, bypassing in-person medical oversight. Cassidy and more than 50 fellow senators have urged the Food and Drug Administration to reinstate requirements for face-to-face dispensing, arguing that such measures protect against coercion and ensure women’s health.
Medication abortions, which now account for well over 60% of abortions in the U.S., involve mifepristone. Despite FDA approvals, including a recent generic version, pro-life advocates point to mounting evidence of severe complications.
A major study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center analyzed over 865,000 insurance claims and revealed that 10.93% of women experienced serious adverse events — totaling 94,605 severe injuries. This rate is nearly 22 times higher than figures cited by the abortion industry to justify relaxed regulations.
The EPPC research, described as the largest of its kind using real-world data, withstood scrutiny from a Washington Post fact-checker who assigned no “Pinocchios” for inaccuracy.
International studies echo these concerns.
A 2009 Finnish analysis of over 42,000 women found 20% reported adverse events, including 15.6% with hemorrhage. A 2023 Canadian study of nearly 40,000 patients showed 10.3% seeking emergency care, while a 2015 California review noted over 5% facing incomplete abortions, bleeding, infections or the need for surgical intervention — often downplayed as “minor” by researchers.
These findings bolster calls for a fresh review of the pill’s safety, focusing on impacts since safeguards were stripped in 2016, 2021 and 2023. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged the study during his confirmation but it remains unreleased, with pro-life advocates accusing the agency of political delays.
Cassidy and 16 Republican senators recently queried the FDA on whether it is studying coercion cases, citing an Ohio incident where a surgeon was charged with slipping an abortion pill to his girlfriend without her knowledge, killing her unborn child.
“The in-person dispensing requirement also helped guard women from being coerced into having chemical abortions against their will,” the senators wrote in their letter.
Mail-order policies have enabled tens of thousands of abortions in states with bans, like Texas and Tennessee, through “shield laws” in places such as New York that protect shippers from prosecution.
Pro-life leaders argue reinstating protections — including mandatory reporting of all adverse events, in-person exams and follow-ups — could reduce suffering and save lives by informing women of the true risks.
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