Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is once again spreading misinformation about the abortion pill mifepristone, and has taken his campaign a step further by introducing legislation to ban it.
The Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act, which Hawley introduced on Wednesday, would bar the use of mifepristone for abortions by withdrawing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 26-year approval of the medication. The bill would also allow women allegedly harmed by the drug to sue manufacturers of mifepristone.
“We are here today to issue a call to action,” Hawley said at a press conference announcing the bill. “To call on the United States Congress to stand up and to protect the innocent unborn, to protect the health and safety of women whose lives are endangered by the abortion drug known as mifepristone, and we’re also here to call on Congress to stand up to the greedy and foreign corporations who are making billions of dollars in profits by endangering women’s health.”
Hawley, who has continually attacked abortion pill access, claimed repeatedly that mifepristone is “inherently dangerous” and “completely unregulated.” He highlighted stories of women being coerced or forced by boyfriends into taking the abortion pill. Instead of going after the men who abused their partners, Hawley wants to ban medication used widely and safely by millions of people since the FDA first approved the drug in 2000.
