Sponsors
Introduced May 6, 2025 by Joshua David Hawley · Last progress May 6, 2025
The bill gives clearer legal identification and enforcement authority around mifepristone and preserves an existing REMS framework—providing clarity and a private remedy for harms—but does so at the cost of reduced access to the drug (including for miscarriage care), increased liability and enforcement burdens that will chill telehealth and pharmacy dispensing, and constrained regulatory flexibility.
People seeking or using mifepristone and health-care providers get explicit statutory identification of the drug, reducing legal ambiguity about which medication the law covers and giving clearer guidance for prescribing, dispensing, and enforcement.
Patients and providers benefit from retaining the June 2011 REMS framework for mifepristone, avoiding sudden new REMS requirements and reducing immediate retraining and compliance costs for hospitals and clinicians.
People harmed by illegally imported or transported abortion medication can sue for compensatory damages and recover attorney’s fees, making litigation more affordable for injured individuals.
Many people who rely on mifepristone—both for medication abortion and for miscarriage management or other medical uses—would face reduced access (especially via foreign suppliers) and potentially interrupted care, raising substantial health risks for women and patients.
Telehealth providers, pharmacies, and interstate dispensers face increased civil liability (including potential punitive exposure) for delivering medication across state lines, creating a chilling effect that will likely reduce telehealth and pharmacy dispensing and further limit patient access.
The bill criminalizes or increases enforcement risk for individuals who receive or ship mifepristone by mail, exposing patients, caregivers, shippers, and senders to seizures, penalties, or criminal investigation.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Reinstates the June 2011 REMS for mifepristone, bans its importation by any means, and creates a federal civil cause of action against certain importers/transporters.
Requires HHS to withdraw the current safety strategy for mifepristone and reinstate the safety rules that were in place in June 2011; bans importation of mifepristone into the United States by any means; and creates a new federal civil cause of action against telehealth providers, pharmacies, or others who knowingly import or transport abortion medications in violation of federal criminal law. The bill defines "covered medication" as mifepristone (including brand and code names) and sets specific timelines: HHS must act within 90 days and the private-right-of-action takes effect 90 days after enactment.