‘It Should Not Be for Sale in America’: Pro-Life Coalition Asks Trump Admin. to Restrict Abortion Drug

By: S.A. McCarthy, originally published April 30, 2025, The Washington Stand

Following the publication of a shocking new study on the effects of the abortion drug mifepristone, pro-life leaders are calling on President Donald Trump to uphold state-level pro-life laws and implement stronger safeguards around the prescription and use of mifepristone.

The Washington Stand has obtained a copy of a letter authored by a coalition of over 50 organizations — led by Family Research Council, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), Catholic Vote, Family Policy Alliance, Human Coalition, Students for Life of America, National Right to Life, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and the American Principles Project — and sent to the president on Tuesday, detailing the dangers of mifepristone and asking him to support state-level pro-life laws and reconsider the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) approval of mifepristone, or at the very least reinstate safeguards originally enacted when the abortion drug was approved in 2000.

The letter began by thanking the president for his “stance as a defender of the weak and vulnerable — especially the unborn,” and named some of his pro-life achievements. “We will be eternally grateful for the work you did during your first term to bring about the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which set the stage for legislators in America to once again protect the unborn,” the letter stated. It continued:

“Unfortunately, Democrats and the left are trampling on the rights of state legislators to implement the will of the people to protect life, and they are using the US Postal Service to do so. We respectfully ask that you take swift action to protect the rights of states to defend unborn children, in keeping with your campaign pledge to return the issue of abortion to the states.”

The letter noted that mifepristone has quickly become responsible for the majority (over 60%) of abortions committed in the U.S. and thanked the president for his efforts in 2020 to combat the liberalization of the abortion drug. However, the letter also pointed out that the Biden administration reduced safeguards surrounding the prescription, distribution, and consumption of mifepristone, including restricting law enforcement agencies from prosecuting the mailing of the abortion drug “unless the sender knows the abortion drugs will be used unlawfully and federal authorities are specifically aware of this intent.” The letter added that, since the Biden administration issued that opinion through the Department of Justice (DOJ), “#WeCount survey estimates 8,000 prescriptions of mifepristone per month (almost 100,000 per year) have been sent through the mail from abortionists in pro-abortion states to pro-life states.”

Blue states and districts — namely, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia — have all enacted “shield laws” protecting abortionists who prescribe and send mifepristone across state lines and into states with pro-life laws, the letter noted. “Many states have laws protecting against mifepristone not only because it kills an unborn child, but also because of the grave risk it poses to women,” the letter stated.

The letter then referenced a new study published by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) this week, which found that the rate of serious adverse complications related to the use of mifepristone is roughly 22 times higher than the FDA claims. While the FDA suggests that only 0.5% of women who use mifepristone experience serious adverse complications, the EPPC found that one in 10 women experience serious complications, including hemorrhaging, sepsis, infection, and others. “The risk from mifepristone could jeopardize a mother’s life,” the letter clarified regarding the study’s results.

“Finally, when mifepristone is not dispensed in person, there is no way to verify who is taking it or to ensure they are doing so willingly,” the letter continued, pointing to the example of a woman in Louisiana who ordered the abortion drug from a New York abortionist and “coerced her pregnant daughter into an abortion. The daughter, who had planned a gender reveal party, experienced complications from the drug, bled heavily and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.” When Louisiana, which has stringent pro-life legal protections in place, attempted to extradite the New York abortionist, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) rejected the extradition request, saying at the time, “If I don’t stand up and protect this doctor, who the hell will?” That same New York abortionist also shipped mifepristone to Texas, another state with strong pro-life laws.

“New York politicians have a history of weaponizing the government against their political opponents. Now, New York politicians are weaponizing the government against states that protect life,” the letter stated. It continued, “Pro-abortionists and states like New York cannot continue to ignore the law and trample on states’ rights. States must be empowered to enforce pro-life laws, all the original safety protocols on mifepristone must be restored, and the FDA must investigate mifepristone, reconsidering its approval altogether.” The letter to the president concluded, “The lives of women and unborn children and the rights of states depend upon it.”

In comments to The Washington Stand, Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, explained the significance of both the letter to the president and the wide-ranging coalition behind the letter. “The pro-life movement has been pro-baby and pro-mom from the beginning. With the approval of mifepristone in 2000, pro-lifers saw abortion killing unborn babies and harming their mothers in ways previously unknown,” she said.

Szoch continued, “The abortion industry has marketed this drug as ‘just like Tylenol’ and, as a result, many women have taken it with as little thought as taking a Tylenol. The consequences have been devastating. These women have met the crushing reality that what Planned Parenthood promised was just a clump of cells is really their visibly recognizable baby delivered into the toilet. Many of these women have found themselves alone and trying to figure out if the horrific bleeding and excruciating pain they are experiencing are normal or a sign that their life is in danger. Countless women desperately wish they could turn back time to the moments before ingesting the drug.”

“The pro-life movement has witnessed this for over 20 years — and over time the situation has gotten worse,” Szoch recounted. She added, “Pro-abortionists have lobbied successfully time and time again to have mifepristone distributed under the least safe conditions possible — obviously for the unborn baby, but also for her mother.”

She continued, “The newest data showing that one in 10 women has a serious adverse event following an abortion, the deaths of Candi Miller and Amber Thurman, the exploitation and coercion faced by a young mother excited for the birth of her child in Louisiana, the complications faced by a woman in Texas, and pro-abortion states’ complete and total disregard for state laws protecting women and children from abortion demand that the pro-life movement speak out in one unified voice to end the reckless use of this dangerous drug.”

“The Trump administration has a history of standing for the weak and vulnerable — of being the most pro-life administration in the history of America,” Szoch said. She encouraged the president, “Now is the time for the Trump administration to enforce the longstanding federal law — the Comstock Act — that prevents abortion-inducing drugs from being sent through the mail, and to revisit the approval of mifepristone all together and remove it from the market.” She concluded, “This drug is killing unborn children, breaking women’s hearts and bodies, and sometimes, taking their lives. It should not be for sale in America.”

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.