Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) and Kevin Hern (R-OK-01) introduced a bill Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives to invalidate the FDA’s recently-updated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) of mifepristone, a chemical abortion drug.
Mifepristone is a chemical drug treatment that works together with misoprostol to end a pregnancy through ten weeks gestation, according to the FDA.
The medication as a pill is taken in two doses. The mifepristone in the first dose terminates a pregnancy by cutting off the production of progesterone. The second pill, a dose of misoprostol, induces contractions to expel the terminated pregnancy from the woman’s body.
I am proud to stand w/ @RepHarshbarger to introduce this major pro-life legislation.
If enacted, access to abortion pills would be limited to in-person distribution ONLY.
Now more than ever, we must protect life.
(via @DailySignal / @Virginia_Allen5)https://t.co/mBLlDQejBa
— Rep. Kevin Hern (@repkevinhern) January 17, 2023
On January 3, the FDA made it easier to access mifepristone through its REMS program by allowing retail pharmacies and mail-order services to distribute chemical abortion drug.
Mifepristone was previously required to be dispensed to patients only in person at a hospital, clinic, or medical office. This would be reinstated by the enactment of Harshbarger and Hern’s bill.
“Protecting life isn’t just a conservative priority – it’s something every American can support,” Hern stated.
In addition, enacting the representatives’ bill would “prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from establishing and enforcing any substantially similar provision of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy for mifepristone.”
“The FDA’s policy change for Mifepristone is the latest example of President Biden’s crusade toward abortion on-demand at any cost, even at the expense of women’s health,” Harshbarger said in a statement. “Chemical abortion drugs have been associated with staggering numbers of life-threatening complications. Every woman in America deserves to know the heightened risks involved with chemical abortions before they make a life-altering decision.
“My bill restores common-sense and proper safety prescriber requirements for the dispensing of these dangerous abortion drugs,” Harshbarger added.
Harshbarger and Hern’s bill has the support from the following pro-life groups: Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee; Americans United for Life; Heritage Action; and the Family Research Council.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
