Planned Parenthood Colorado Blasts Hawley’s Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act to Revoke FDA Mifepristone Approval
Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado executive director Sarah Taylor‑Nanista blasted Sen. Josh Hawley’s "Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act" in a fundraising email, calling mifepristone "the safe and widely used medication" for more than 25 years, accusing Hawley of relying on "false claims" and saying the bill is meant to shut down medication and telehealth abortion access and strip reproductive rights. Hawley’s proposal would seek to revoke FDA approval of mifepristone, create a private right of action for women to sue manufacturers and impose new criminal labeling and distribution penalties under the FD&C Act; Hawley cites an Ethics and Public Policy Center analysis alleging a 10.93% serious‑adverse‑event rate within 45 days, while Planned Parenthood counters that decades of evidence show mifepristone is safer than many over‑the‑counter medicines, including Tylenol.
📌 Key Facts
- Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado executive director Sarah Taylor-Nanista sent a fundraising email attacking Sen. Josh Hawley’s 'Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act,' calling mifepristone 'the safe and widely used medication that has been part of abortion care in the United States for more than 25 years' and urging donations in response to the bill.
- Taylor-Nanista accused Hawley of relying on 'false claims' that mifepristone is 'inherently dangerous' and said the bill is about 'shutting down abortion access — especially medication abortion,' not about safety.
- The email framed Hawley’s legislation as part of a 'broader strategy to ban telehealth abortion nationwide' and to 'strip people of their fundamental rights.'
- Hawley’s bill would seek to revoke FDA approval of mifepristone, create a private right of action allowing women who say they were harmed by chemical abortions to sue manufacturers, and criminalize certain labeling and distribution practices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
- Hawley’s effort cites an Ethics and Public Policy Center study of 865,727 mifepristone abortions that reported a 10.93% rate of serious adverse events (sepsis, infection, hemorrhage or other serious complications) within 45 days.
- Planned Parenthood counters Hawley’s safety argument by pointing to decades of evidence that, in their view, show mifepristone is 'safer than many over-the-counter medications — including Tylenol.'
📊 Relevant Data
In a 2025 study analyzing over 11,000 medication abortions, only 0.31% of patients experienced major complications such as hospitalization, blood transfusion, or surgery, which contrasts with the 10.93% adverse event rate cited in the Ethics and Public Policy Center study referenced in Hawley's bill.
Analysis of Medication Abortion Risk and the FDA report 'Mifepristone US Post-Marketing Adverse Events Summary through 12/31/2022' — ANSIRH (Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health)
Black pregnant individuals and those below the poverty line are less likely to access medication abortion compared to White and higher-income individuals, with surveys from 2021-2022 showing that only 39% of Black respondents and 37% of low-income respondents used medication abortion versus 53% overall.
Black and poor people found less likely to access medication abortion — Axios
Racial disparities in abortion rates persist, with Black women having an abortion rate of 23.8 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 2020, compared to 6.6 for White women and 11.7 for Hispanic women; these disparities are linked to higher rates of unintended pregnancies among racial/ethnic minorities due to differences in access to and use of effective contraception.
Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2020 — CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
A nationwide abortion ban could increase maternal mortality by 21% overall and by 33% among Black Americans, based on 2022 estimates, in a context where Black women already face a pregnancy-related mortality rate over three times higher than White women (49.4 vs. 14.9 per 100,000 in recent data).
Abortion Access as a Racial Justice Issue — New England Journal of Medicine
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado executive director Sarah Taylor-Nanista sent a fundraising email attacking Hawley’s bill and calling mifepristone 'the safe and widely used medication that has been part of abortion care in the United States for more than 25 years.'
- Taylor-Nanista explicitly accuses Hawley of relying on 'false claims' that mifepristone is 'inherently dangerous' and argues the bill is 'about shutting down abortion access — especially medication abortion' rather than about safety.
- The email frames the legislation as part of a 'broader strategy to ban telehealth abortion nationwide' and 'strip people of their fundamental rights,' and urges donations in response.
- Fox’s piece details that Hawley’s bill would revoke FDA approval of mifepristone for abortion, create a private right of action for women who say they were harmed by chemical abortions to sue manufacturers, and criminalize certain labeling and distribution practices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
- The article highlights Hawley’s reliance on an Ethics and Public Policy Center study of 865,727 mifepristone abortions claiming 10.93% serious adverse events (sepsis, infection, hemorrhage or other serious complications) within 45 days.
- Planned Parenthood counters Hawley’s safety argument by asserting that decades of evidence show mifepristone is 'safer than many over-the-counter medications — including Tylenol.'