OKC Standard

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), and several colleagues have sent a letter to Michael Regan, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seeking information on the potential negative effects of the chemical abortion drug mifepristone.

Brecheen and Rubio were joined by U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and U.S. Representatives Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), and Jim Banks (R-IN).

“The full impact of mifepristone has never been sufficiently studied and the American people have been largely left in the dark about the full negative effects of chemical abortion drugs,” said Congressman Brecheen. “That is why I am joining Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in demanding answers from the EPA about how mifepristone is also contaminating America’s water systems.”

The inquiry follows President Biden’s Food and Drug Administration's deregulation of mifepristone, which allows pregnant women to receive this chemical abortion drug by mail without an in-person doctor visit. Since this change, there has been a significant increase in abortions using mifepristone, raising concerns about its disposal and potential environmental impact.

In their letter, Brecheen, Rubio, and their colleagues wrote: “We write with regard to the chemical abortion drug mifepristone and its potential negative environmental impact, including its effect on water systems in the United States. Given the steadily increasing rate of at-home chemical abortions, it is vital that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ensure mifepristone, the drug’s active metabolites in blood and placenta tissue, and the fetal remains of unborn children — all of which are unbelievably being flushed into America’s wastewater system — do not pose a threat to the health and safety of humans and wildlife.”

They further stated: “The full impact of mifepristone has never been sufficiently studied. When the FDA approved the drug in 2000, it relied on a 1996 environmental assessment that failed to consider that human fetal remains and the drug’s active metabolites would be making their way into wastewater systems across the U.S. Any studies that have been conducted in the past should be repeated and updated to reflect the fact that the drug is far more prevalent today than it was three decades ago.”