A group of House Republicans aims to use environmental restrictions to curb the use of the abortion pill mifepristone, which anti-abortion advocates say contaminates the water supply with human remains from at-home abortions.
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) introduced a new bill Wednesday with nine GOP cosponsors that would do away with telehealth access to abortion medications and require in-person screening before a doctor could dispense the pills.
The bill would also require patients undergoing a medication abortion at home to use a catch-kit to collect the fetal remains and other pregnancy tissue, including the placenta and blood clots, to be disposed of as medical waste by the prescribing medical team.
Miller’s bill, the “Clean Water for All Life Act,” is being championed by the anti-abortion advocacy group Students for Life of America, which has advanced the argument that the proliferation of medication abortion in recent years has tainted the drinking water supply with human fetal remains and endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
