Safe, effective abortion pills are under attack. Here’s what you need to know.
Abortion pills have to stay legal. They are affordable and available by telehealth no matter where you live. Now, a well-funded network of anti-abortion lobbyists is working to take them away. Because restricting access to medication abortion gets them closer to the national abortion ban they’ve always wanted.
Abortion pills are safe, common, and FDA-approved.
- 25 years FDA-approved
- 60% of abortions in the U.S.
- 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage — which is treated with the same medication
Medication abortion, commonly called abortion pills, has been FDA-approved for 25 years. Doctors prescribe it safely every day, including via telehealth, to patients who can’t easily get to a clinic. It is the most common way to access abortion care in the United States today.
It is also how doctors treat miscarriages. The same medication. It has made safe, effective, affordable care possible for millions, regardless of zip code, income, or how far they live from a clinic.
They can’t ban abortion everywhere yet. So they’re going after the pills.
Voters across the country have rejected abortion bans at the ballot box again and again. A national abortion ban is deeply unpopular. Anti-abortion lobbyists and politicians know that. So they’ve changed tactics. A coordinated network of billionaire-backed anti-abortion organizations is targeting medication abortion through the Trump administration instead of pushing for an outright ban that Congress won’t pass. The billionaires and lobbyists pushing this come from the same network of organizations and donors that spent decades building toward the end of Roe. They are not done.
Their goal: restrict abortion pills enough that access disappears without anyone ever having to vote for a ban.
Restrict abortion access enough, and the ban writes itself.
Attacks on medication abortion are happening on multiple fronts at once – in courts, in state legislatures, and through federal agencies. These efforts are funded by a small group of wealthy donors and coordinated through a network of anti-abortion organizations. Here are just a few ways they’re trying for a back-door abortion ban:
- Challenging FDA approval of a common form of medication abortion in federal courts
- Using fake reports to attack telehealth prescribing of abortion pills, forcing patients to travel hundreds or thousands of miles for health care
- Blocking mail delivery of abortion medication, even in states where abortion is legal
- Funding state-level legislation that could make prescribing or taking abortion pills a crime punishable with jail time
Restricting telehealth access to abortion pills falls hardest on patients in rural areas, those without the resources or time to travel, and stretched-thin moms just trying to get through the week while managing their jobs, kids, and everything else. To say nothing of the cruel shock of encountering anti-abortion interference during a miscarriage.
We didn’t ask for this fight. But here we are.
Nobody needs another coordinated attack on safe, effective abortion care right now.
The people trying to control our pregnancy decisions are not at our kitchen tables or in our doctor’s offices. They are not dealing with rising costs and raising kids. Medication abortion is safe, common, and absolutely none of their business.
Hands off.