Four states — California, Massachusetts, New Jersey,  and New York — are now petitioning the Food and Drug Administration to relax restrictions on abortion pills. As the FDA reevaluates its guidance on abortion pills and states such as Illinois push to keep them readily available to women no matter what, it’s worth remembering how dangerous these drugs can be.

A popular pro-abortion talking point from last fall was that the death of a Georgia woman was caused not because of the abortion drugs she took, but because of pro-life laws. Former Vice President Kamala Harris accused pro-life legislation of the death of Amber Thurman, who tried to obtain a chemical abortion in her state of Georgia by the use of abortion pills but died due to complications from the drug that resulted from hemorrhaging.

In an effort to draw attention from the dangerous nature of these abortion pills that caused Thurman’s death, Harris claimed the strict abortion laws in Georgia should be relaxed to allow women to have abortions later in their pregnancies. This means babies would be substantially more developed when killed in the womb.

Harris commented on the death of Thurman, saying, “Women are bleeding out in parking lots, turned away from emergency rooms, losing their ability to ever have children again …. And now women are dying.”

Harris’ claims on how women are suffering are correct, but it is not due to the lack of access they have to abortions. In reality, it is due to the dangerous nature of the widely available chemical abortion pill that Harris promotes.

Live Action founder Lila Rose weighed in on her podcast, saying, “Here’s the truth: Amber Thurman was a 28-year-old mother who died from sepsis after taking legally obtained abortion pills. Abortion killed Amber Thurman. Abortion killed Amber’s twin babies. Not pro-life laws.”

In March 2024, Harris celebrated how the use of the abortion drug, mifepristone, had been certified “safe” and able for purchase at major pharmacies. Harris called the drug “safe and effective” and claimed that the drugs will “ensure women have access to the health care they need.”

We know not only from news stories but also from recent studies that this isn’t true.

Any abortion kills an innocent human life, so it can never be truly safe. Harris also failed to recognize not only the dangerous side effects of these abortion pills, but also what the implications of widespread use of these drugs would entail. According to a study done by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, chemical abortion pills are four times as likely as surgical abortion to lead to complications for the mother, with a staggering 15% of women hemorrhaging due to the use of these pills.

Not only are the drugs themselves dangerous, but the use of them is becoming more nefarious. In a study done by Cureus, it was determined that 24% of women with a history of abortion felt coerced into the decision. Laws have now been passed in Louisiana and Kansas to protect women against coercive abortions, especially those by use of abortion pills.

Louisiana state Sen. Thomas Pressly recounted to the National Catholic Register his very personal experience with coercive abortions by the abortion pill, misoprostol: “My sister was the victim of a terrible domestic-violence attack where her then-husband tried to kill their third child, who was then in utero, by grinding up misoprostol and placing it into drinks on seven different occasions and handing them to my sister …. I just felt like this was a commonsense piece of legislation to put additional steps in place … [as] we want to make sure that they don’t get in the hands of bad actors.”

In Kansas, state representatives have passed laws to combat another dangerous avenue for abortion pills, sex trafficking. Kansas state Rep.Ron Bryce echoed the concern by saying, “Women are being trafficked for sex, and they are being forced by their pimps to have abortions. … It’s just an extension of this disregard for human life.”

With the availability of abortion pills preserved by the Supreme Court, there is no telling just how dangerous the abortion landscape may become. Domestic violence via coercive abortions will surely increase as chemical abortions become widespread. In response to this, more laws must be enacted to restrict access to these abortion pills. Just as Louisiana and Kansas have already done, states must continue to pass laws that protect life as well as the safety of women who are coerced into abortions.