Sponsors (26)
The bill prioritizes restricting federal emergency/regulatory authority and increasing clinical oversight and reporting around medication abortion, improving standardized oversight for some patients but substantially reducing access, increasing costs and privacy/reporting burdens, and weakening federal responsiveness—especially for low-income, rural, and time-sensitive patients.
Pregnant people and abortion providers face fewer sudden federal emergency-driven regulatory changes related to abortion, reducing the likelihood that HHS emergency powers will be used to alter access or requirements without new Congressional authorization.
Women receiving medication abortion in states with clinic access will more often get drugs in supervised clinical settings and from prescribers who meet required competencies, which proponents say reduces risks from unsupervised self-administration and improves clinician preparedness for complications.
Standardized federal reporting on abortion could improve the completeness of national surveillance data, aiding public health monitoring and planning at state and federal levels.
Women and people seeking medication abortion—especially low-income, rural, and travel-limited individuals—will face reduced access because drugs must be obtained in person at clinics or hospitals, increasing travel, delays, costs, and the risk of missed-care.
The bill immediately terminates abortion-related public health emergency authority and removes an emergency toolset, which could halt ongoing federal coordination, waivers, funding tied to that declaration, and limit rapid federal response during abortion-related crises.
Federal regulatory flexibility (e.g., REMS changes and other FDA/HHS updates) is constrained, potentially slowing evidence-based updates that could expand access when safety data support it and delaying regulatory responses to evolving clinical evidence.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Bars HHS from using public health emergency powers for abortion, reinstates in-person REMS for abortion drugs, and blocks REMS changes until states submit standardized abortion data to CDC.
Prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from declaring or using federal public health emergency authorities for matters "with respect to abortion," and immediately ends any such declaration that is in effect when the law takes effect. It also requires reinstatement, effective on enactment, of an in-person dispensing requirement in any FDA risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) that applies to abortion drugs so those drugs may only be dispensed in clinics, medical offices, or hospitals by or under the supervision of a certified health care provider. Blocks FDA or HHS from reducing REMS protections for abortion drugs (including by exercising enforcement discretion or issuing waivers) until every state submits aggregate abortion data to the CDC using a standardized worksheet that contains specified variables (age, gestational age, race/ethnicity, method, prior pregnancy history, residence, fetal outcome, and congenital anomalies). The law also defines key terms (abortion, abortion drug, certified health care provider, unborn child) and sets provider competency and prescriber-agreement requirements for those who may dispense abortion drugs under REMS.
Introduced February 24, 2025 by Kevin Hern · Last progress February 24, 2025