WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday clashed over the safety of mifepristone, a drug used in conjunction with misoprostol for medical abortions, and Americans’ ability to procure the pills without an in-person medical consultation.
During a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said the FDA should complete a safety review of mifepristone, which he called “common ground” between the starkly divided parties. Cassidy specifically demanded such a review from FDA commissioner Marty Makary, who was the recent subject of a Bloomberg report that said he had delayed a review of the drug.
The hearing showed that the battle continues over access to prescription abortion drugs as abortion remained banned in 13 states and restricted to some degree in others.
Nisha Verma, an OB-GYN who is a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health and one of three witnesses at the hearing, pointed to over 20 years of FDA approval as evidence that mifepristone is safe.
“The science on mifepristone’s safety and effectiveness is long-standing and settled,” Verma said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration initially approved the use of mifepristone through the first seven weeks of gestation in 2000, before expanding its use to 10 weeks in 2016.
However, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said that the drug is a “black box” medication, which means it has serious side effects, and said he hopes reports that the FDA is “intentionally slow-walking” a study are false. Banks and other Republicans also criticized the FDA’s 2023 removal of previous requirements for in-person prescription of the drug.
Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill, a witness at the hearing, said the ability to acquire abortion drugs online went against the law of her state, which prohibits abortions at all stages of pregnancy with some exceptions.
“The policy decision of the overwhelmingly bipartisan legislature in Louisiana has enacted laws to protect the women of Louisiana, and I think that the issue here that you and maybe other people don’t want to talk about is that we live in a land of the rule of law,” Murrill said in a response to a question from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. “That is the law of Louisiana, and so they can seek that care in another state.”
Republicans also questioned whether patients should be able to receive abortion pills without an in-person consultation. Verma said telehealth makes health care more accessible to patients who live in rural areas and may not otherwise receive abortion care.
“There is a process for telehealth, there are regulations, there are strict screenings that happen,” Verma said. “What is really the issue here is when people need additional care, they can’t get it in their communities without fear of being criminalized.”
Democrats repeatedly asserted that they believed the hearing was not about protecting women. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said that the hearing struck her as “gaslighting at the highest level.”
“It is really clear to me that this hearing is not about science, and it’s certainly not about women’s health,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said. “We all know the real motivation behind this hearing: Republicans don’t like abortion, they want to ban abortion nationwide, but they know that is not popular.”
At times, emotion ran high as senators and witnesses shared personal stories of experiences with miscarriages, pregnancy and abortion.
About an hour after the hearing ended, Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., held a press conference to reaffirm their requests for a safety review of mifepristone and an end to mail-order abortion drugs.
Graham criticized the federal government for allowing mail-order abortion pills, which he said contradicted the principle that states should set their own abortion laws.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Graham said.
