On July 20, 2026, a paper in Issues in Law and Medicine — the journal run by an anti-abortion group that was likely formed to attack medication abortion access in court — allegedly confirmed what scare-mongering anti-abortion groups have been claiming for years: that medication abortion is polluting U.S. water. Despite its scientific facade, this paper has been steeped in bogus, anti-abortion propaganda from inception to publication. And now that the Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to conduct a study of over 1,400 potential contaminants in the water supply — including mifepristone and misoprostol — abortion opponents are peddling this disinformation harder than ever.

Here’s what you need to know.

The Claim

Claims that abortion pills are contributing to water pollution started gaining traction in 2020, when Students for Life of America asked the Food and Drug Administration to “re-open an examination of the environmental impact of flushing” the products of abortion. This ask came in spite of the environmental impact study already done as part of the approval process for mifepristone. Students for Life and other anti-abortion groups have claimed that self-managed abortion in particular poses unique environmental risks, citing the alleged introduction of mifepristone into the waterways via urine, feces, and the products of abortion.

While this recent paper does not loudly advertise its anti-abortion ties, Students for Life and other anti-abortion organizations played a key role in   this bogus “study.”

The Journal

The first anti-abortion red flag is right there in the website banner: “a journal of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine.”

An established nonprofit since 2023, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is best known as the lead plaintiff in the 2023 Supreme Court case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine vs. the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The case — which was ultimately dismissed for lack of standing — sought to have mifepristone’s approval revoked, which would have decimated access to this safe, effective medication. This anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion organization is headed by Dr. Donna Harrison, the director of research for the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs (the anti-abortion organization that previously ran Issues in Law and Medicine) and an associate scholar of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an affiliate of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which bills itself as “the political arm of the pro-life movement.”

The Authors

Speaking of the Charlotte Lozier Institute: one of the co-authors of this paper, Dr. Elise Rose, is also an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and her bio outlines a long history of advancing anti-abortion propaganda. Rose is described as engaging in anti-abortion clinic harassment, writing anti-abortion essays, volunteering with anti-abortion pregnancy centers, and even serving as the national vice president for public relations for Feminists for Life. While Rose claims to have “no competing of interest of any kind,” her history as an anti-abortion leader makes it clear that her primary interest is in ending abortion.

While there are no apparent ties between co-author Michael Varveris and the anti-abortion movement, his Facebook and business pages have all the calling cards and buzzwords of the conservative “Make American Healthy Again” movement: a focus on weight loss and supplements, hormone replacement as the answer to a wide variety of ills, and frequent mentions of toxins/detoxification. Not to mention his weekly “Make Your Body Great Again” segment on Fox News.

The Funding

Towards the top of the paper, Issues in Law and Medicine notes that funding for Rose, and therefore this paper, comes from Charitable Allies, Inc. Described as an organization of “trusted nonprofit lawyers,” Charitable Allies provides a variety of legal services for nonprofits, churches, and foundations. While the company does not advertise their views, both their board and staff have ties to Students for Life, the anti-abortion organization that started the claim about alleged abortion pill contamination in the water:

• Charitable Allies’ most recent 990 lists Tina Whittington — the executive vice president of Students for Life —as the board chair of Charitable Allies, and their website confirms she’s still a current board member.
• Charitable Allies’ now-former CEO and Managing Attorney Zachary Kester [1] was described as an attorney advising Students for Life as recently as January 2025, at which time Kester still led Charitable Allies. He was described as Students for Life’s general counsel in their 2023 amicus brief in support of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine’s case against the Food and Drug Administration. Notably, Kester left Charitable Allies in 2025 shortly before his license was suspended for “charging, collecting unreasonable fee” from the Down Syndrome Association of Northwest Indiana.
• In January 2026, Charitable Allies Staff Attorney Katie Buckner spoke at Students for Life’s Pro-Life Summit following the annual March for Life. Buckner spoke on a panel that specifically uplifted Students for Life’s bogus claims about mifepristone in the water supply.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration appears to be indifferent to the lack of scientific rigor and the clear anti-abortion bias behind these claims, if we’re to believe language from early September announcing the EPA’s supposedly “cutting edge” study looking for abortion medication in drinking water. This could well be nothing more than an attempt to appease the same anti-abortion actors behind prior bogus pseudo-science and disinformation, chiefly Students for Life of America.

Indeed, the Politico article that broke the news of the impending EPA study also flagged a new flaw with the anti-abortion paper. According to a former Environmental Protection Agency employee, the methods used in the anti-abortion paper “measured the presence of any chemical that blocks progesterone,” including “BPA, which is found in many plastic products.” These misleading results published by anti-abortion actors could now result in restrictions on abortion pills and contraceptives.

This “abortion in the water” claim and its corresponding paper are just the latest in a long line of anti-abortion pseudo-science. The unproven theory of ‘abortion pill reversal,’ so-called ‘restorative reproductive medicine’ as an ‘alternative’ to IVF, and the “Baby Olivia” video that’s infiltrating public schools are all prime examples of how anti-abortion ‘science’ is often just anti-abortion misinformation by another name. Anti-abortion propaganda masquerading as ‘science’ can cause real harm to pregnant and parenting people, and indeed to anyone who may want or need abortion care. We as pro-abortion activists owe it to ourselves to know how to debunk common anti-abortion myths and call out anti-abortion propaganda when we see it. This is one way to keep ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities safe.

[1] https://www.linkedin.com/in/zackester/