Sponsors (19)
The bill increases in-person clinical oversight and biomedical-waste controls for chemical abortion care but does so by broadly restricting telemedicine access and imposing criminal and legal risks that will raise costs, deter providers, and substantially reduce access for many patients.
Women who obtain chemical (medication) abortions will receive in-person physical exams and an in-person provider presence during care, increasing direct clinical assessment and oversight.
Health-care providers must supply biohazard disposal kits for abortion-related waste, which could reduce improper medical-waste disposal by patients and facilities.
Women — especially those in rural areas and low-income patients — will face reduced access to medication abortion that was previously available by telemedicine, making timely care harder or impossible to obtain.
Pharmacies, manufacturers, distributors, and clinicians face broad criminal exposure and legal uncertainty under expansive definitions in the law, increasing the risk of federal enforcement and prosecutions and likely deterring entities from supplying or providing abortion-related medications and services.
Patients will likely incur higher out-of-pocket costs and greater travel burdens because care that was available remotely will require in-person visits, disproportionately harming low-income and rural patients.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal crime for providing or attempting to provide medication abortion across state lines unless the provider examines the patient in person, is present during administration, and supplies specified disposal kits.
Creates a new federal crime for providing or attempting to provide a medication (chemical) abortion when acting in or affecting interstate commerce unless the provider meets three conditions: conducts an in-person physical exam of the patient, is physically present where the medication abortion occurs, and supplies a specified disposal kit with instructions to return items to the provider. The proposal defines key terms, including “chemical abortion drug” (listing mifepristone, misoprostol, mifeprex, mifegyne, and substantially similar drugs), “catch kit,” “red bag medical waste,” “abortion,” and “unborn child.” The change is added to federal criminal law (Title 18) and would create a new criminal penalty for noncompliance; it applies when the activity is in or affects interstate commerce. No funding, deadlines, or implementation timeline are specified in the text provided.
Introduced March 18, 2026 by Mary E. Miller · Last progress March 18, 2026