Abortion Drug Black Market Is Booming. Will Pam Bondi Intervene?

By: Ellie Gardey Holmes, originally published January 28, 2025, The American Spectator

“I just passed my pregnancy and it’s the size of my fist.”

The reversal of Roe v. Wade has allowed nearly two dozen states to implement laws limiting or outlawing abortions. But abortion lovers aren’t fretting too much. That’s in large part because there is a massive black market for abortion pills.

In gross contradiction of federal law, Indian “pharmacies” are profiting handsomely by trafficking scores of abortion drugs into the United States. Doing so is a violation of the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits the interstate shipment of unapproved drugs. The abortion drugs shipped in from India fall into this category.

In addition to killing unborn children, these drugs can be extremely dangerous to women. The FDA only recommends the use of such drugs during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, as taking abortion drugs after that time can result in serious complications, such as heavy bleeding or a retained placenta. Yet Indian “pharmacies” make no effort to sell only to women who are pregnant within this timeframe, often resulting in women taking the medication well into their second trimester of pregnancy.

Linda Prine, a doctor in New York, talked about the “scary” experiences women faced after taking abortion pills trafficked from India.

“They were having a really scary miserable experience,” she told the Washington Post. Prine explained that a major factor that contributed to this “miserable experience” is that women would “pass a recognizable fetus.” This was often because of the pills’ long shipping time, she said.

Prine additionally told Vox that women would call a hotline after taking pills from an Indian pharmacy and say things like, “I just passed my pregnancy and it’s the size of my fist.” Others, she said, would call because the umbilical cord was still connected.

The FDA has a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy in place for the dispensing of mifepristone, the most common abortion drug, in order to mitigate its known risks to women. It requires that mifepristone be dispensed under the supervision of a certified prescriber and that the doctor ensure that the drug is being prescribed within the allowed timeframe.

None of that protocol is followed when Indian “pharmacies” ship out abortion drugs. Sometimes, these “pharmacies” sell the drugs in bulk packs and provide no instruction about dosage. At other times, they list the drugs under names that are not used in the United States. And lots of times, these drugs take a long time to ship or can get delayed in the mail, resulting in women taking these drugs even later on in their pregnancies.

Despite the extreme threat that these “pharmacies” pose to women’s safety, abortion activists prop up these drug dealers, advertising and advocating for them.

Most prominent among these defenders is the organization Plan C, which does its best to assure women that ordering abortion pills from Indian pharmacies will be fine. Plan C regularly orders abortion pills from these drug traffickers and uses laboratory inspections to see if they are indeed mifepristone. It then shares its results by encouraging women to buy from these “pharmacies.” Currently, it directs women to 13 different online drug sellers.

These Indian drug sellers often proclaim that they are great promoters of social justice and women’s rights. Of course, they then turn around and proclaim no responsibility over what happens after a woman takes their drugs.

One Indian pharmacy that sells abortion pills, for instance, says: “We respect women’s decision of not choosing drudgery unlike any human being and our cause is also supported by a few researched topics and we do not stigmatize the women or her decision-making capabilities.” It then cautions, “[Y]our trust on our information over the doctor is entirely on your trust and we do not hold any responsibility for it.”

An Indian businessman even recounted making millions in annual revenue from an Indian “pharmacy” that sold abortion drugs, among other medications, to Americans. When I asked him about his abortion drug business, he simply said, “I’m not supposed to talk to you.”

Luckily, the federal government can intervene to stop this illegal drug trade and protect women. The FDA can coordinate with the Department of Justice to carry out enforcement actions, including the pursuit of criminal charges. Given presumptive Attorney General Pam Bondi’s longstanding focus on cracking down on drug trafficking, taking action against the illegal trade of abortion drugs would fit perfectly into her agenda.

Ellie Gardey Holmes is Reporter and Associate Editor at The American Spectator.