HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania Family Institute has signed onto a national coalition letter urging President Donald Trump to investigate the abortion pill mifepristone, citing severe risks to women’s health, and to reconsider its approval altogether. This urgent call follows alarming new research revealing significant dangers associated with chemical abortions, a method now responsible for the majority of abortions both nationwide and in Pennsylvania.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, chemical abortions accounted for 56% of all abortions in the state in 2023. The abortion pill mifepristone, often portrayed as safe by abortion proponents, is prescribed without proper oversight or safeguards, leading to severe complications for women. A new study we reported on earlier this week indicates that approximately 10% of women who take mifepristone experience serious complications, a rate drastically higher than the FDA’s previously reported figure of 0.5%.
“Taking the findings in this study into account, more than 2,000 women in Pennsylvania alone are potentially suffering serious health complications from the abortion pill every year,” said Dan Bartkowiak, Chief Strategist at Pennsylvania Family. “This alarming data demands immediate attention and action to protect women’s health and safety.”
The coalition letter, authored by Family Research Council and signed by over 50 leading pro-life organizations—including American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Catholic Vote, Family Policy Alliance, and Students for Life of America—calls upon President Trump to uphold state-level pro-life laws and restore critical safety protocols removed by the Biden administration.
As reported by The Washington Stand, the coalition emphasized the dangers associated with mailing abortion pills across state lines, often bypassing state pro-life protections. “Many states have laws protecting against mifepristone not only because it kills an unborn child but also because of the grave risk it poses to women,” the letter stated, highlighting that states are being undermined by federal policies that restrict law enforcement from prosecuting those who mail abortion pills illegally.
The letter states:
“Unfortunately, Democrats and the left are trampling on the rights of state legislators to implement the will of the people to protect life, and they are using the US Postal Service to do so. We respectfully ask that you take swift action to protect the rights of states to defend unborn children, in keeping with your campaign pledge to return the issue of abortion to the states.”
One particularly distressing case cited involved a woman in Louisiana who coerced her daughter into taking mifepristone purchased from a New York abortionist. The daughter, who had been planning a gender reveal party, suffered severe bleeding and required hospitalization. When Louisiana authorities attempted to hold the New York provider accountable, New York Governor Kathy Hochul refused to comply, exacerbating tensions between states enforcing pro-life laws and those actively undermining them.
Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, underscored the significance of the coalition’s action in her statement to The Washington Stand. “The pro-life movement has been pro-baby and pro-mom from the beginning,” she said. “With the approval of mifepristone in 2000, pro-lifers saw abortion killing unborn babies and harming their mothers in ways previously unknown.”
“These women have met the crushing reality that what Planned Parenthood promised was just a clump of cells is really their visibly recognizable baby delivered into the toilet,” Szoch explained. “Many of these women have found themselves alone and trying to figure out if the horrific bleeding and excruciating pain they are experiencing are normal or a sign that their life is in danger.”
Szoch further urged the Trump administration to act decisively: “Now is the time for the Trump administration to enforce the longstanding federal law—the Comstock Act—that prevents abortion-inducing drugs from being sent through the mail, and to revisit the approval of mifepristone altogether and remove it from the market.”
As Pennsylvania’s largest statewide pro-family public policy organization, Pennsylvania Family Council remains dedicated to advocating for public policies that protect and strengthen families, children, and society at large. This latest action aligns with our longstanding commitment to safeguard women and the unborn from the severe physical and emotional harms posed by abortion drugs.
Tom Shaheen, VP for Policy for PA Family, emphasized the urgency of the issue, stating, “This drug is not only ending thousands of unborn lives every year but is putting women at serious risk. Women deserve better than the deception and harm perpetuated by the abortion industry, masquerading as ‘health care.’”
The coalition’s message to President Trump was unequivocal: the FDA must urgently investigate mifepristone and reconsider its approval. Pennsylvania Family Institute joins these leading organizations in calling on federal policymakers to take immediate action to protect women from the dangers of chemical abortion.
Join Pennsylvania Family Council in urging federal policymakers to immediately revoke approval of the abortion pill and prioritize women’s health and safety.
We need you to join us in calling on federal leaders to revoke approval of the abortion pill and protect thousands of women in Pennsylvania from serious harm every year. Click here to contact your legislators and make your voice heard.
Stop the Abortion Pill!
Please help protect the unborn as well as expectant mothers. My husband and I adopted three children through foster care and are thankful their birth mother chose life.