Project 2025 and the Republican party are intensifying attacks on reproductive rights. From seeking to close clinics to challenging laws and battling in the courts, their strategy is clear. Despite some notable victories, like reversing Roe v. Wade in 2022, they are facing significant pushback in other areas, particularly when it comes to prohibiting abortion medications. This resistance largely stems from the fact that most Americans support the right to choose.
Currently, there’s a renewed focus on mifepristone, one of the two medications commonly used in medical abortions. Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri is at the forefront of efforts to ban this drug, presenting a bill designed to prohibit its use and revoke its approval from the Food & Drug Administration.
During a recent news conference about this bill, Hawley expressed concern, saying, “We’ve known for years that mifepristone is risky, but it’s really just in the last few years that we’ve learned this drug is inherently dangerous and it’s inherently prone to abuse.” His comments have generated significant discussion.
Hawley labels mifepristone a “death pill,” basing his claims on a 2025 study from the conservative think tank, the Ethics and Public Policy Center. This report asserts that 11% of users experience “serious adverse effects.” However, investigations reveal that the study omitted critical data, lacked peer review, and broadly defined what qualifies as a “serious adverse effect.”
In contrast to this contentious study, mifepristone is generally recognized as remarkably safe — safer than well-known medications like penicillin and Viagra. Its success rate hovers around 98 percent within the first eight weeks of pregnancy and is 14 times safer than childbirth. Mifepristone received FDA approval in 2000, and in 2020, it became available for prescription through telehealth services.
A group of conservative physicians attempted to restrict the drug via the Supreme Court in 2024 — an initiative linked to Hawley’s spouse, a lawyer. However, the justices unanimously upheld mifepristone’s legal status.
Recently, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, indicated that the FDA would reassess the drug’s safety, again referencing the isolated study from the conservative group.
If Hawley’s proposed legislation passes, it would result in an immediate ban on mifepristone throughout the United States.
