This week, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) introduced The Safeguarding Women’s and Children’s Health Act, which would require more accurate reporting of the deaths and adverse events connected with the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. 

Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11): “The FDA’s politically motivated decision to approve mifepristone for use without proper medical evaluation or oversight is putting the health and safety of women at risk, especially given there are no requirements to report adverse health events caused by the chemical abortion. Americans deserve a clear understanding of the risks these drugs pose to women, especially as the Biden Administration works to expand the availability of these dangerous drugs.”

Background:

In the United States, data on chemical abortion is limited and inaccurate. States may voluntarily aggregate and report their abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some states report intermittently.  Some states, including California, Maryland, and New Hampshire, choose not to report at all.  The state of abortion reporting is illustrated by this map.

Since 2016, the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for mifepristone (the federal safety regulations put in place by the federal government) have not required reporting adverse events.  As a result, there is severe underreporting of the deaths, incomplete abortion, bleeding, and infection caused by mifepristone.

However, the data that is available indicates that consuming mifepristone creates significant risks for women (in addition to killing the unborn baby). A longitudinal study published in 2021 found that, between 1999-2015, visits to emergency rooms related to chemical abortion increased by over 500%.  A Finnish study found that women who underwent a chemical abortion were four times more likely to experience an adverse event than women who had another type of abortion.

On January 3, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it was modifying REMS for mifepristone to allow certified pharmacies (both physical locations and online retailers) to dispense mifepristone.  It made false claims about the safety of mifepristone for the mother. This bill highlights the true danger mifepristone poses to women’s health and would provide data to better understand the extent of the risk.