Wyoming Bans Abortion Pills
Wyoming took an important step to reduce abortion last week: It just outlawed abortion pills, becoming the first state to explicitly do so. Thirteen other states outlaw abortion pills via blanket abortion bans, and 15 others limit abortion pill access. Wyoming’s decision is significant as it comes at a time when abortion pills have become the new front in the fight for pro-life policies.
Chemical abortions account for over half of all abortions in the United States, and they have since before the fall of Roe v. Wade. This makes them an important target in pro-life states—and the cause du jour for pro-abortion activists.
A Texas judge is currently reconsidering the Food and Drug Administration’s more than 20-year-old approval of mifepristone, the first drug in the abortion pill’s two-step process. The decision could eliminate or restrict the use of chemical abortions nationwide.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has recently cleared the way for pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens to distribute abortion pills with a prescription. Still, when Walgreens announced that it would provide abortion pills only in states where it is legal to do so, abortion-supporting activists balked. Apparently for some abortion advocates, nothing less than radical adherence to the spread of abortion will do.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom canceled a $54 million Walgreens contract with the state after tweeting, “California won’t be doing business with @walgreens—or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk. We’re done.”
This kind of language is echoed by pro-abortion politicians across the board. Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Wyoming’s decision by calling it “extreme.”
“This is another attack on safe and effective medication that the FDA approved 20 years ago,” she tweeted. “It will put women’s health and lives at risk.”
However, the use of medication abortion (also known as “self-managed” abortion) has been shown to be potentially dangerous and psychologically traumatizing for women. Bleeding alone at home, women can feel isolated and less likely to ask for help from family and friends out of shame. A number of women fear for their lives on these pills, as abortion-pill use has been shown to lead to increased rates of emergency room visits.
A close look at the facts suggests that chemical abortions are what put women’s health and lives at risk, not lack of access to them. Good for Wyoming for taking this step to protect preborn babies and safeguard mothers’ health.