Are Abortion Pills Poisoning Our Environment?

Lawmakers are urging the Biden administration to investigate the environmental impact of abortion medications due to the increasing use of the abortion pill.

Photo credit: Mikael Seegen

Highlights

By Catholic Online (California Network)
5/30/2024 (11 months ago)

Published in Green

Keywords: abortion, pro-life, chemical abortion, environmental impact

In a May 29 letter to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Oklahoma), and others expressed concern about the effects of the abortion drug mifepristone on the water supply.

Mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in chemical abortions, blocks progesterone, a hormone essential for sustaining the unborn child, while the second drug expels the deceased unborn baby.

Chemical abortions are mainly self-induced at home, leading to the disposal of blood and placental tissue containing mifepristoneâ₏ s active metabolites into wastewater systems along with the fetal remains of the unborn child, the senators noted in the letter.

The letter highlighted the "dramatic rise" in chemical abortions, with 63% of U.S. abortions last year being medication-induced, compared to 24% in 2011, according to a Guttmacher study.

The authors argued that the drug "has never been sufficiently studied." Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000, mifepristone relied on a 1996 environmental assessment that did not consider the potential environmental impact of human fetal remains and the drug, they alleged.

"Any studies that have been conducted in the past should be repeated and updated to reflect the fact that the drug is far more prevalent today than it was three decades ago," the lawmakers insisted.

They requested a response by July 15.