Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com says chemical abortions are responsible for most of the abortions today, and in many cases, they are provided by someone out of state. That is why pro-life states are approving or considering legislation that prevents mail-order abortions.
"If you're wanting to get the abortion pill, you have to go to somebody in person to get that," he explains. "In pro-life states, where abortions are not legal, that's not going to be something that can be done. So, it stops that practice."
When the Ethics & Public Policy Center looked at insurance data in 2025, the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank and advocacy group found that one in 10 women taking the abortion pill experience a "serious adverse event."
10.93% of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion, which is a rate at least 22 times as high as the summary figure of "less than 0.5%" in clinical trials reported on the drug label.
Meanwhile, 21 of the states that have enacted abortion restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade have filed a brief in support of Louisiana's lawsuit challenging a Biden-era rule that expanded access to abortion drugs through mail and telehealth.
In 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration removed longstanding in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion drug. This allowed certified providers to prescribe the drug via telehealth appointments, permitted pharmacies to dispense the drug, and allowed it to be mailed directly to patients.
While supporters say that increased access to "care," especially in rural areas and in states with few abortion providers, the pro-life states' attorneys general argue the federal rule conflicts with state abortion restrictions and infringes on state authority.
States seeking to prevent mail-order abortions have addressed it through a mix of approaches, including explicit bans, telehealth restrictions, criminal penalties for providers who mail or prescribe remotely, and civil lawsuit mechanisms allowing private enforcement.
"It protects women who are being killed and being injured by these dangerous abortion drugs," Ertelt tells AFN. "And, of course, it protects unborn babies."
