A leading pro-life group is warning Republicans that they could pay a political price in the midterms if the administration doesn’t get tougher on abortion pills sent through the mail.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is touting a new poll that shows 8 in 10 likely GOP primary voters want the FDA to require that abortion drugs — like mifepristone — be dispensed in person, which would roll back a Biden-era rule from 2023 that opened the door to getting them through the mail.
More than 7 in 10 respondents also oppose the FDA’s decision to approve generic mifepristone while it awaits a safety review.
But perhaps the most politically alarming number for Republicans is what would happen if voters lose faith in the GOP’s support for pro-life policies. The poll showed 32% would be less enthusiastic about voting in the November midterms if GOP leaders — albeit in an unlikely scenario — abandon pro-life policies, and 34% would be less willing to volunteer.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the mounting concerns about the GOP’s commitment to limiting abortion pills do not bode well for a party already facing historic headwinds in midterm elections.
“Even small depressions in turnout can be decisive in outcomes — but to have fully one-third of your most passionate supporters disengaged, unenthusiastic and less likely to volunteer is catastrophic,” she said. “Secretary Kennedy and the Trump-Vance administration absolutely cannot afford to kick the can down the road until after midterms.
“We urge them again to reinstate common sense safeguards to stop the poisoning of babies and mothers today.”
The fight over abortion pill access has become the new front in the broader abortion debate since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 — the landmark 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion.
Pro-life advocates celebrated that ruling and credited President Trump for appointing key justices who supported it.
Since then, they have lamented how the number of abortions has gone up, driven in part by the rise of medication abortion.
The legal battles over mail-order abortion drugs are playing out simultaneously in the courts, state capitals and Congress, where some Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about the pace of the FDA’s safety review of mifepristone and whether access through mail should be curtailed.
Ms. Dannenfelser’s warning comes after the Department of Justice last month asked a federal court to hold off deciding a Louisiana lawsuit against the FDA related to mail-order abortion drugs.
DOJ lawyers said that would give the FDA time to complete a safety review of mifepristone — a process expected to take a year.
Ms. Dannenfelser has been critical of the move, saying it could leave pregnant women vulnerable to “deadly mail-order abortion drugs.”
Planned Parenthood also criticized the DOJ, though for entirely different reasons — accusing it of spreading misinformation by suggesting there is “widespread debate over the safety of mifepristone.”
Planned Parenthood said that argument was “thoroughly debunked by 25 years of data and more than 100 peer-reviewed studies.”
The next court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division, is set to take up that state’s motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to rescind the FDA’s 2023 rule and reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement.
Conducted by Cygnal, the national survey cited by SBA Pro-Life America included 1,000 likely GOP primary voters and had a 3.1% margin of error.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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