PETITION:

Tell the FDA to put women's health first by restoring essential safeguards on the abortion drug mifepristone

Two new reports analyzing the largest known dataset related to complications of the abortion drug mifepristone find a nearly 11 percent rate of serious adverse events — including hemorrhage, sepsis, and more.

When mifepristone was first approved by the FDA in 2000, regulations were put in place to protect women from the worst of the drug’s risks — including an in-person dispensing requirement, a 7-week gestational age limit, and two required follow-up visits to monitor for complications. But over the past decade, the FDA has removed these regulations. Today, these drugs can be ordered online without a prior in-person physician’s visit to confirm the age and location of the pregnancy and no follow-up visits. As of 2024, 14 percent of induced abortions are shipped in the mail and self-managed, and over 600,000 drug-induced abortions are performed per year. This subjects pregnant women to an unacceptably low standard of care, the results of which are reflected in the latest reported real-world complication rate.