FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2023
Contact: Kelsey Pritchard, [email protected]
Biden Admin’s Push to Expand Abortion on Demand Violates Federal & State Law, Poses Public Health Threat
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Twenty state attorneys general led by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey reminded the nation’s two largest drugstore chains that distributing chemical abortion drugs RU-486, mifepristone and Mifeprex in the mail is a federal crime and a violation of their states’ laws.
Following the Biden Food and Drug Administration’s recent decision to remove in-person distribution of mifepristone, Walgreens and CVS announced they would obtain and sell abortion pills by mail. Letters from the attorneys general to Walgreens Executive Vice President Danielle Gray and CVS General Counsel Tom Moriarty quote the text of a federal law that “expressly prohibits using the mail to send or receive any drug that ‘will be used or applied for producing abortion.’”
The attorneys general call the Biden-Harris administration’s interpretation of the law “bizarre,” saying they expect the courts to reject the administration’s attempt to ignore and re-interpret the text of federal law.
Katie Glenn, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s state policy director, applauded the letter:
“We thank Attorney General Andrew Bailey and the 19 attorneys general who are defending women and unborn children from the threat of chemical abortion drugs. The Biden FDA’s unprecedented move to allow this dangerous drug regimen to be distributed in retail pharmacies and by mail, without in-person medical screening, is illegal and puts the life and safety of millions at risk. Based on the most recent data available, abortion pills are sending more and more women to the ER with serious and even life-threatening side effects. Big drugstores like CVS and Walgreens are supposed to be trusted names in health and wellness. We call on them to heed federal and state law and stand down from selling abortion pills.”
Chemical abortion, sometimes called “the abortion pill,” is a two-drug regimen taken up to 70 days (10 weeks) or even later into pregnancy and causes the death of the unborn child. The first drug blocks the natural hormone progesterone, starving the developing baby of hormonal support, while the second drug induces labor to expel the baby from the womb.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies confirm that women are at risk of severe side effects after taking chemical abortion pills, including hemorrhaging, the need for follow-up surgery, and even death. Studies have found that chemical abortion has four times the complication rate of surgical abortion, and these risks only increase with advanced pregnancy and lack of medical supervision. Peer-reviewed research from Charlotte Lozier Institute has also found that after a chemical abortion there is a 53% greater risk for an ER visit for abortion complications than after a surgical abortion.
For more information on the dangers of chemical abortion, visit abortiondrugfacts.com.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is a network of more than one million pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.
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