Life Advocacy Briefing

Question of the Week

WHEN 172 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS sign a letter asking the FDA and Secretary of Health & Human Services for protection of America’s women from the dangers of mifepristone, do you think the President’s men will reconsider approval of this drug?

Welcome, Congressman VanEpps

THE WINNER OF LAST TUESDAY’s SPECIAL CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION in the Nashville area is GOP State Rep. Matt VanEpps, whose campaign website included the following: “Matt believes every life is a gift from God and must be protected. As a father and a man of faith, he is committed to standing up for the unborn and fighting back against the far Left’s radical abortion agenda. In Congress, Matt will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Pres. Trump to defend the sanctity of life, promote a culture that values children and families and ensure taxpayer dollars are never used to fund abortion. Every child deserves a chance at life, and Matt will never back down from that fight.”

Messages like that were excluded from virtually every GOP congressional candidate’s campaign website in 2024 by cold-feet consultants and weak leaders. We are glad to see the pro-life commitment coming back. It is no coincidence that the top question about Cong.-elect VanEpps on the Internet’s favorite search site was “Is Matt VanEpps pro-life?” The issue matters to voters, and we have no doubt his pro-life commitment aided his victory over a left-wing abortion advocate last Tuesday.

He was sworn into office by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Thursday.

An Appeal for Mercy – or At Least Common Sense

HOUSE PRO-LIFE CAUCUS CHAIRMAN Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) have organized a letter to Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and to Food & Drug Administration chief Marty Makary challenging the Biden Regime’s relaxation of in-person consultation requirements for prescription of the abortion drug mifepristone a/k/a RU-486 and asking them to reverse the policy for the protection of mothers and their unborn children.

They were joined in their letter by 170 more colleagues, whose names we list near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing. We also present the letter itself, with just minor edits, and endorse its content until such time as enough American officials wake up to the horror which approval of this killer drug has wrought.

“Abortion pills have become arguably the most important part of the abortion lobby’s business,” notes Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews, “and the ability to mail them across state lines to be taken in complete privacy is nearly impossible for pro-life states to prevent, effectively undermining [Pres.] Trump’s own stated desire for every state to decide abortion policy for itself.

“In November 2022,” he adds, “Operation Rescue reported that a net decrease of 36 abortion facilities in 2022 led to the lowest number in almost 50 years, yet the chemical abortion business ‘surged’ with 64% of new facilities built specializing in dispensing mifepristone and misoprostol.” And with the Biden Regime having removed requirements for in-person consultation and follow-up by licensed doctors, the abortion drug racket is virtually unregulated and demonstrably unsafe, a development which appears to have received scant attention from the Trump team.

Taking the Lead

THE MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL HAS FILED SUIT against the federal Food & Drug Administration over its surprise approval on Sept. 30 of a generic version of mifepristone, “arguing,” writes Ray Hilbrich for LifeSiteNews, “that key protections were overlooked during its safety investigation.” Not to mention the baby-destructive purpose behind such a drug.

“In a press release,” reports Mr. Hilbrich, Atty. Gen. Catherine Hanaway “commented on the dangers of allowing the crude drugs to be easily obtained through the mail after an extremely hasty and unsatisfactory review.

“‘Mifepristone is sending women to the hospital with life-threatening complications,’” the AG said in the release, quoted by LifeSiteNews, “‘and yet drug companies continue pushing new versions of it into the market without basic medical safeguards.’”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also reacted to the FDA’s reckless approval of the generic version of the baby-killing drug at the very time the FDA ought to be reconsidering the agency’s original, politically pressured, hasty approval of RU-486 in the waning hours of the Clinton Regime in December, 2000.

“‘FDA is supposed to be conducting a review of the safety regulations around mifepristone,’ [Sen.] Hawley stated,” quoted by Mr. Hilbrich. “‘But because this new generic has been approved before any changes to those safety protocols, this drug may be exempted from any new safety standards imposed on mifepristone in the future. That would render your [FDA’s] safety review toothless and irrelevant.’”

Ohio House Does What It Can

THE OHIO HOUSE HAS SENT to the GOP-controlled State Senate a bill, reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews, “to effectively ban abortion pills from being prescribed without an in-person doctor’s examination or informed consent, taking aim at what has become the abortion industry’s most potent tool for preserving ‘access’ without Roe v. Wade.”

The bill passed the House by a vote of 60 to 28. It does not directly address abortion, but the abortion implication is no doubt the reason it was deemed controversial by certain lawmakers.

HB-324 is called the Patient Protection Act, and it applies, explains Mr. Freiburger, to “a ‘dangerous drug that causes one or more severe adverse effects in greater than five percent of the drug’s users,’” requiring a prescriber of such a drug to “‘do all of the following: (1) Conduct an in-person examination of the patient; (2) inform the patient that the drug causes one or more severe adverse effects in greater than five percent of the drug’s users; [and] (3) schedule the patient for a follow-up appointment.’”

Seems reasonable. Perhaps the federal Food & Drug Administration should look at Ohio’s proposal  as a suggestion, if the FDA persists in allowing such a problematic drug to be marketed at all.

“An April analysis by the Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC) concluded,” notes Mr. Freiburger, “that almost 11% of women suffer sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging or other major conditions after taking mifepristone, according to insurance data.” Seems as though requiring in-person consultation before prescribing such a thing ought to be a no-brainer.

Ohio voters were deceived into cementing abortion into their state constitution in 2024, but at least the state’s lawmakers are getting creative about protecting mothers and babies while waiting for DC to do the right thing or the courts to read the 5^th and 14^th Amendments to the US Constitution.

Victory in the Making?

AN APPEAL TO THE SUPREME COURT by New Jersey pregnancy care centers – ordered by the state to turn over donor records to authorities – drew hints of favorable treatment by the high court’s justices last Tuesday, offering hope that one avenue of the Left’s assault on agencies extending help to distressed expectant mothers might be thwarted by the Supreme Court’s ruling, expected next summer.

The Supreme Court is “deliberating,” writes S.A. McCarthy for The Washington Stand, “whether or not the First Choice pregnancy resource centers could file a 1^st Amendment lawsuit in federal court or would have to wait until state courts finished litigating the matter first.” The five-center group is seeking to resist compliance with a subpoena issued in 2023 by New Jersey Attorney Gen. Matt Platkin (D) in an obvious effort to intimidate the Life-affirming operation and its benefactors.

North Dakota ‘Heartbeat’ Law Upheld

IN A CONFUSED & CONFUSING RULING, the North Dakota Supreme Court has effectively upheld a state law which, reports Matt Lamb for LifeSiteNews, “generally prohibits the intentional killing of preborn babies in the womb.” The law does include a loophole, notes Mr. Lamb, “for a medically ‘necessary’ abortion. Women can also have their baby killed up through the first six weeks of pregnancy if the baby was conceived via rape or incest.”

Still, the news is generally positive, considering that even the six-week ban has been blocked since September of 2024 by a “left-wing” state district judge, reports Mr. Lamb, “keeping it unenforceable until now. The activist judge [Bruce Romanick] invented a ‘right’ to abortion by reading it into the state constitution,” writes Mr. Lamb.

“‘The state constitution requires at least four of the five justices to agree,’” reports the Associated Press, quoted by Mr. Lamb, “‘for a law to be found unconstitutional, a high bar. Not enough members of the court joined together to affirm the lower court ruling,’” some for one reason, some for another. Oh well. The legislature has spoken, and now the protections enacted in 2023 can be secured for unborn children and their sometimes confused, sometimes coerced mothers.

Congressional Appeal to Protect Mothers from Mifepristone

Dear [HHS] Secretary [Robert F.] Kennedy & [FDA] Commissioner [Marty] Makary:

             … As Members of Congress who share in the President’s vision for safeguarding Life, protecting the health and wellbeing of American families and ensuring that federal agencies act responsibly, we write to respectfully ask that the deleterious and grossly under-reported effects on women of the drug mifepristone be aggressively investigated and decisive action taken to protect women from harm. We also urge that immediate action be taken to, at a minimum, reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.

             The need for urgent investigation and review of this drug comes in the wake of the Biden-Harris Administration’s egregious action to remove critical safeguards that once applied to abortion drugs and the FDA’s approval of a new abortion drug generic in September 2025. The previous Administration claimed that these changes were in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but in reality, Covid served as a smokescreen to accomplish its radical abortion agenda, which even now wreaks havoc across the nation. Clear majorities of Americans recognize the extreme overreach of the previous Administration’s actions, with recent polling from McLaughlin & Assoc. finding that 7 in 10 voters agree it “makes sense” to bring back the safety standards that were removed by Biden’s FDA.

             Furthermore, while we have long known that mifepristone causes the death by starvation of children alive in the womb – it is baby poison – we now know with greater certitude that their mothers are also being seriously harmed. Despite the mainstream media and the Biden-Harris Administration perpetuating the lie that these drugs are “safer than taking a Tylenol,” science and women’s lived experiences clearly say otherwise.

             In a groundbreaking study, “The Abortion Pill Harms Women,” the Ethics & Public Policy Center (EPPC) reveals that serious adverse events from mifepristone are approximately 22 times more frequent than the FDA currently recognizes. The study shows that, following a mifepristone abortion, 10.93% of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging or another serious or life-threatening adverse event. That is, over 1 in 10 patients experience at least one serious adverse event. This largest-ever study of the abortion pill is based on a HIPAA-compliant analysis of a health insurance claims database that includes 865,727 prescribed mifepristone abortions from 2017 to 2023.

             This study – along with an independent review by the Restoration of America Foundation that reached similar conclusions – adds to a growing body of evidence indicating that the health risks associated with mifepristone abortions are severe, widespread and significantly underreported.

             In particular, the sending of this abortion drug through the mail is extremely dangerous. Earlier last month you, Secretary Kennedy, said that “[T]he Biden Administration removed mifepristone’s in-person dispensing rule without studying the safety risks.”

             For years, FDA required mifepristone to be dispensed in person under a doctor’s supervision, acknowledging that the drug poses serious medical risks to women. But in 2023, the Biden Administration permanently removed the in-person dispensing requirement from its Risk Evaluation & Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for mifepristone, creating a no-contact mail-order abortion scheme. This scheme allows these drugs to be sent through the mail, even to pro-life states where abortion (or merely “telehealth abortion”) is illegal, absent important medical consultation and oversight, and often without any confirmation of who is purchasing these drugs.

              Just recently, HHS acknowledged that a safety review of mifepristone is warranted: “HHS’s decision to [conduct the safety review] is informed by the lack of adequate consideration underlying the prior REMS approvals, and by recent studies raising concerns about the safety of mifepristone as currently administered.”

             Again, the EPPC and Restoration of America Foundation reports reveal that the real-world rate of serious adverse events following mifepristone abortions is astonishingly higher than what is reported on the drug’s label. Even the current Obama-FDA-approved label for mifepristone – which the data show understates the dangers to women – says that roughly 1 in 25 women who use mifepristone as directed will end up in the emergency room. Yet, the Biden FDA ignored the warning signs, including even the findings in the studies on which it relied … .

             Beyond the studies, women tell us how they have suffered harm from mifepristone, and stories of coercion and abuse involving abortion drugs now run rampant. … The dangerous Biden mail-order scheme was designed to give abortion activists license to mail drugs everywhere, even into states … that have pro-life protections for pregnant mothers and their unborn babies. These drugs are sent across state lines with no physician oversight and without appropriate screening to ensure that bad actors are not secretly poisoning women without their knowledge or forcing women to take abortion drugs against their will – a clear indication that radical pro-abortion activists care more about protecting abortion access than about upholding women’s health and safety.

             Today, abortion drugs account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the US; there are over 600,000 abortions committed using these drugs each year. The Biden FDA’s reckless, no-contact, mail-order abortion scheme is to blame. Abortion providers are reaping increased profits, while women and their unborn children suffer irreparable harm.

             Under your leadership, HHS and FDA can reverse this wrong. We urge you to immediately reinstate the REMS requiring in-person dispensing of mifepristone and to expedite the promised review by the FDA into the dangers of abortion drugs.

Signers of the ‘Mifepristone’ Letter

IN ADDITION TO LETTER INITIATORS Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), signing the letter seeking protection of America’s women from the dangers of mifepristone (RU-486) were GOP Representatives Robert Aderholt, Barry Moore, Gary Palmer, Mike Rogers & Dale Strong (AL); Andy Biggs, Eli Crane & Paul Gosar (AZ); Rick Crawford, French Hill, Bruce Westerman & Steve Womack (AR); Vince Fong, Darrell Issa, Doug LaMalfa (CA); Lauren Boebert, Jeff Crank (CO); Aaron Bean, Gus Bilirakis, Vern Buchanan, Kat Cammack, Mario Diaz-Balart, Byron Donalds, Neal Dunn, Randy Fine, Scott Franklin, Mike Haridopolos, Laurel Lee, Anna Paulina Luna, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Jimmy Patronis, John Rutherford, Greg Steube, Daniel Webster (FL); Earl “Buddy” Carter, Andrew Clyde, Mike Collins, Brian Jack, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Barry Loudermilk, Rich McCormick & Austin Scott (GA).

Also: GOP Representatives Russ Fulcher & Michael Simpson (ID); Mike Bost, Darin LaHood & Mary Miller (IL); James Baird, Erin Houchin, Mark Messmer, Jefferson Shreve, Victoria Spartz, Marlin Stutzman & Rudy Yakym (IN); Randy Feenstra, Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA); Ron Estes, Tracey Mann & Derek Schmidt (KS); Andy Barr, Brett Guthrie & Thomas Massie (KY); Clay Higgins, Mike Johnson (House Speaker), Julia Letlow & Steve Scalise (LA); Andy Harris (MD); Tom Barrett, Jack Bergman, Bill Huizenga, John James, Lisa McClain, John Moolenaar & Tim Wallberg (MI); Tom Emmer, Brad Finstad, Michelle Fischbach & Pete Stauber (MN); Mike Ezell, Michael Guest & Trent Kelly (MS); Mark Alford, Eric Burlison, Sam Graves, Robert Onder, Jason Smith & Ann Wagner (MO); Troy Dowling (MT); Don Bacon, Mike Flood & Adrian Smith (NE); Mark Amodei (NV); Nicholas Langworthy, Nicole Malliotakis, Claudia Tenney (NY); Virginia Foxx, Pat Harrigan, Mark Harris, Richard Hudson, Brad Knott, Addison McDowell, Tim Moore & Gregory Murphy (NC); Julie Fedorchak (ND); Troy Balderson, Mike Carey, Warren Davidson, Jim Jordan, Bob Latta, Michael Rulli, David Taylor & Michael Turner (OH); Josh Brecheen, Stephanie Bice, Tom Cole, Kevin Hern & Frank Lucas (OK); Cliff Bentz (OR); John Joyce, Mike Kelly, Dan Meuser, Scott Perry, Guy Reschenthaler, Lloyd Smucker & Glenn Thompson (PA).

Further, GOP Representatives Sheri Biggs, Russell Fry, Ralph Norman, William Timmons & Joe Wilson (SC); Dusty Johnson (SD); Tim Burchett, Chuck Fleischmann, David Kustoff, Cindy Ogles & John Rose (TN); Jodey Arrington, Brian Babin, John Carter, Dan Crenshaw, Jake Ellzey, Pat Fallon, Brandon Gill, Craig Goldman, Tony Gonzales, Lance Gooden, Wesley Hunt, Ronny Jackson, Nathaniel Moran, August Pfluger, Chip Roy, Keith Self, Pete Sessions, Randy Weber & Roger Williams (TX); Mike Kennedy, Blake Moore, Celeste Maloy & Burgess Owens (UT); Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith & John McGuire (VA); Michael Baumgartner (WA); Scott Fitzgerald & Glenn Grothman (WI); Carol Miller & Riley Moore (WV); and Harriet Hageman (WY).

Wisdom from the Great Communicator

EXCERPT #31 from Abortion & the Conscience of the Nation, 1983 treatise by then-President Ronald Reagan, published in Human Life Review, then as a hardcover book from Thomas Nelson Publishers

             The Adolescent Family Life Program, adopted by Congress at the request of Senator Jeremiah Denton, has opened new opportunities for unwed mothers to give their children life. Each of these issues is a potential rallying point for the sanctity of life ethic. Once we as a nation rally around any one of these issues to affirm the sanctity of life, we will see the importance of affirming this principle across the board.