U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) reintroduced their Support and Value Expectant (SAVE) Moms and Babies Act to strengthen federal controls over the regulation and distribution of chemical abortion drugs. Senator Young was a cosponsor of this legislation in the last Congress.
The SAVE Moms and Babies Act would prevent labeling changes for already-approved abortion drugs; prevent providers from dispensing these drugs remotely, by mail, or via tele-medicine; and prevent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving new chemical abortion drugs.
“Chemical abortions pose the highest risk of complications for mothers, but efforts are underway to try and relax their regulation,” said Senator Young. “In order to protect women from dangerous complications, I am reintroducing the SAVE Moms and Babies Act to strengthen the oversight of these drugs, prevent providers from dispensing them remotely, and stop the approval of new chemical abortion drugs.”
“The dangers inherent with chemical abortion drugs are increasingly well known. Our bill would work to stop efforts to lessen their regulation and broaden their distribution to expectant mothers who are often not informed of the dangers of these sometimes lethal drugs,” said Senator Hyde-Smith. “We must do more to protect women from dangers of mail-order or do-it-yourself chemical abortion drugs. I am pleased to renew this important effort with Congressman Latta and others supporters.”
The legislation would prohibit the removal of the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) currently applied to these drugs due to known or potential serious risks associated with the medication, including incomplete abortions, infections, severe bleeding, and death. Lifting REMS warnings to make chemical abortion available by prescription would effectively override most state pro-life protections like parental involvement, waiting periods, and informed consent.
