Hirono, Colleagues Expand Investigation into Effects of State Abortion Bans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Tina Smith (D-MN) in expanding their investigation into the effects of state abortion bans on women, as the country nears the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The senators sent letters to five leading health care organizations representing physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and hospitals—the American Medical Association, Physicians for Reproductive Health, National Nurses United, the American Pharmacists Association, and the American Hospital Association—asking for updates since the organizations’ responses to the senators’ questions about threats to abortion sent in August and September 2022. The senators are also requesting information about the effects of attacks on medication abortion amidst ongoing legal challenges.

“Since the Supreme Court’s devastating decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn Roe v. Wade, Republican politicians across the country have enacted draconian laws banning or severely limiting abortions, with Republicans in Congress even introducing a 15-week national abortion ban. In particular, medication abortion, which accounts for over half of all abortions in the United States, is increasingly under attack,” wrote the senators.

The senators note the importance of access to medication abortion, which accounts for more than half of abortions nationwide. In states that restrict access to mifepristone, a medication used in conjunction with misoprostol to induce abortion, women are more likely to seek procedural abortions later in their pregnancies, resulting in higher costs and elevated health risks. Beyond abortion care, mifepristone is also used to treat miscarriages, allowing mothers to safely manage a painful loss in private.

“Since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, online misinformation about the safety and efficacy of mifepristone… has exploded despite extensive evidence proving the drug’s safety. Anti-abortion organizations, including crisis pregnancy centers, have also promoted erroneous claims that medication abortion can be reversed, commonly referred to as ‘abortion pill reversals,’ resulting in confusion and fear… A federal district court’s ruling challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 23-year-old approval of mifepristone has further fueled this surge in misinformation, which has left women across the country unsure whether they can legally access the medication – even in states without restrictions,” wrote the senators. 

Given these serious concerns, the senators are asking each organization to answer a set of questions by June 8, 2023 to better assess how challenges related to accessing medication abortion, including misinformation, affect patients and providers across the nation, and to better understand the effects of a potential judicial decision staying the FDA’s approval of mifepristone. 

The full text of the letters is available here.  

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