Lower Bucks Today

When U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) returns to Congress after the end of summer recess on Sept. 12, one of the first bills he could consider is the “Support and Value Expectant (SAVE)  Moms and Babies Act of 2023” (HR 427), which would restrict the availability of mail-order pills used in chemical abortions. 

HR 427 would “reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for abortion drugs, blocking their remote distribution by mail or through telemedicine, and also improve reporting requirements for complications,” said a press release from U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio). 

Latta and U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) reintroduced the bill in the House and Senate, respectively, in Jan. 2023.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, mifepristone, in 2020 as a method of abortion. Taken along with misoprostol, the two-drug combination is known as medication abortion or the "abortion pill."

Since the approval of that drug, medication, or chemical, abortions, have grown to account for 53 percent of all abortions in the U.S. as of 2020, according to a 2022 study by the Guttmacher Institute. 

When mifeprestone was first approved by the FDA, the drug’s use was limited to up to seven weeks into the pregnancy and three in-person office visits were required. The first visit was for mifeprestone, the second visit was to administer misoprostol, and the third was to address any complications. The entire process required a doctor’s supervision and a reporting system for serious complications as a result of the drug’s usage, reported PBS News Hour.

Earlier this year, the FDA updated its website, but did not make an announcement, to reflect that the drugs could be dispensed at retail pharmacies, reported the New York Times.  

Meanwhile, the complication rate for a chemical abortion is four times higher than the complication rate for a surgical abortion, according to a study published in the official journal of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

HR 427 currently has 58 co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health.

The bill is supported by organizations including SBA Pro-life America, Americans United for Life, CatholicVote, March for Life, National Right to Life, Heritage Action, Students for Life of America, Concerned Women for America, Family Research Council, Family Policy Alliance, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said a press release by Rep. Latta.