[John Mize is CEO of Americans United for Life. The following originally appeared August 21, 2025, at National Review Online; reprinted with permission.]

In a matter of minutes, anyone can order abortion drugs online and have them shipped to states with even the most stringent prolife protections.

Take the case of Christopher Cooprider. Reportedly, after multiple attempts to pressure his girlfriend, Liana Davis, to “get rid of it,” Cooprider took matters into his own hands—aided by the widespread, online accessibility of abortion drugs. He is accused of ordering the pills from Aid Access and slipping them into his girlfriend’s hot chocolate, making her yet another victim of domestic violence resulting from deregulated chemical abortion.

Text messages between Cooprider and Davis surfaced as part of the complaint Davis has filed against her boyfriend, as well as Aid Access and its director, Rebecca Gomperts. These messages show a pattern of verbal and emotional abuse common among victims of abortion coercion, many of whom are eventually subjected to vile forced abortions.

Sadly, Liana Davis is only the most recent story. Since the Biden administration discarded the inperson dispensing requirement associated with the FDA approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, women have continued to come forward with stories of coercion and blatant abuse.

Data have consistently shown that nearly 70 percent of women describe some form of coercion as influential in their abortion. Often, this occurs as a form of domestic partner violence, but it can also result from relationships with other family members or even a medical provider. Allowing mailorder abortions prevents doctors from screening for coercion, but, of course, the abortion industry doesn’t care as long as they make a profit.

Advanced provision prescribing feeds directly into their revenue streams. There has been an increasing trend in abortionists prescribing mifepristone and misoprostol before pregnancy. One recent study showed that approximately 15 percent of chemical abortion drugs were prescribed for “advanced provision” use.

Essentially, these drugs are being prescribed as a pregnancy “fail-safe,” without regard for the potentially dangerous side effects and contraindications. Any drug requiring a “black box” warning should not be handed out without the close supervision of a trained health care professional.

But the abortion industry has shown an elaborate historical pattern of enabling coercion and abuse, willing to sacrifice women’s “choice” on the altar of abortion access and increased profit. “Choice” cannot exist if coercion is allowed to prosper.

The pro-abortion Obama administration began the stealthy and calculated process of removing safeguards associated with the FDA approval of mifepristone, which was later fulfilled by his successor, Joe Biden. The Biden administration used the Covid19 pandemic’s “social distancing” to justify telehealth abortion, which twisted into the nefarious mail-order practices.

An additional consequence of deregulated and unfettered access to chemical abortion is the rampant proliferation of sexual trafficking. Traffickers who have historically taken their victims to brickandmortar abortion businesses can now purchase these drugs online without speaking with a live person, perpetuating the cycle of abuse without the threat of being reported by a discerning health care provider. Abuse, yet again, begets abuse.

Liana Davis’s story comes on the heels of a new analysis that suggests chemical abortions result in nearly 22 times the adverse event rate as the FDA notes on their approval of mifepristone. These adverse events are not merely numbers—each event is the story of a woman who has suffered because politics has been placed over women’s lives and scientific rigor.

The review the FDA is currently conducting in light of this new analysis is more important than ever. At a minimum, the FDA is obligated to restore the inperson dispensing requirements to prevent further domestic violence and abuse. Should they choose not to act, more women will continue to be abused or worse, and the FDA will be complicit in their harm.

Laws like those in Louisiana, Texas, and West Virginia that prevent abortion pill trafficking must continue to be passed across the country and defended in court. Abortion shield laws must be challenged and abolished to allow states to protect women and girls within their borders.

Devastation has occurred in the wake of the deregulation of abortion medication. America must act to prevent abuse and protect the vulnerable.