Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration approved chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States. The agency illegally categorized pregnancy as an illness and asserted chemical abortion drugs provide a meaningful therapeutic benefit. (2) In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration reduced the number of doctor visits required for administration of chemical abortion drugs from 3 visits to 1 visit. The agency also removed the requirement for both the in-person administration of misoprostol and a subsequent follow-up appointment. At this time, the agency also expanded the availability of inducing a chemical abortion from 7 to 10 weeks. (3) In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration eliminated the in-person dispensing requirement for chemical abortion drugs, purporting to allow these drugs to be dispensed by mail in violation of longstanding Federal law. (4) When compared to surgical abortions, chemical abortions are consistently more likely to result in complications that are miscoded as a spontaneous abortion or miscarriage. (5) According to the Guttmacher Institute, the Abortion Industry’s think tank, since 2000, the administration of mifepristone and misoprostol has grown to comprise over 50 percent of all induced abortions in the United States. (6) There is a four times higher risk of experiencing complications due to a chemical abortion than a surgical abortion.