Lawmakers from both the House and the Senate have sent a letter calling on the Biden administration to study the environmental impact of the abortion pill.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), U.S. Representative Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), and colleagues sent a letter to the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Michael Regan asking the EPA to look into the impact of the abortion pill drug mifepristone on the country’s water. The senders note that these considerations are vital, given the skyrocketing use of the abortion pill.
“Given the steadily increasing rate of at-home chemical abortions, it is vital that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ensure mifepristone, the drug’s active metabolites in blood and placenta tissue, and the fetal remains of unborn children — all of which are unbelievably being flushed into America’s wastewater system — do not pose a threat to the health and safety of humans and wildlife,” they wrote.
The abortion pill regimen is a process in which a woman self-administers a chemical abortion using a two-step combination of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. The natural result of the process is that she delivers a dead baby – usually at home. In most cases, the baby’s remains are flushed down the toilet. To date, there have been no studies to determine what impact both the fetal tissue and the abortion drugs have on the environment once the child is flushed away. The authors of the letter are calling on the EPA to study these potential impacts.
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“Environmental protection efforts are necessary to counter the potential harm that chemical abortion drugs are creating for our people, wildlife, and ecosystems. The American people deserve to know the negative effects caused by chemical abortion drugs,” the lawmakers wrote.
They also note that the environmental impact of the abortion pill “has never been sufficiently studied,” adding that when the drug was first approved in 2000, that approval was based on a 1996 environmental assessment that didn’t consider the impact of fetal remains on the environment.
“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 said. They have called on the EPA to respond as soon as possible.
In addition to Rubio and Breechen, signees include U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and U.S. Representatives Matt Rosendale (R-Md.), Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), and Jim Banks (R-Ind.).
