February 26, 2024
A letter drafted by Students for Life Action along with SBA Pro-Life America calls on Congress “to direct the EPA to conduct regular and comprehensive environmental testing for the presence of the abortion drug mifepristone in the same manner as testing is conducted for ‘forever chemicals’ or PFAS chemicals.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER.
WASHINGTON D.C. (02-26-2024) – A coalition of pro-family leaders including National Right to Life, Family Research Council, Eagle Forum, Catholic Vote, and Live Action, signed onto a letter drafted by Students for Life Action and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America calling on Congress to demand that the EPA track the “forever chemicals” in the first of the two drugs used to cause an abortion with pills. The No Test, Online distribution of Chemical Abortion Pills established by the Biden Administration when the FDA stripped away both health and safety standard testing to protect women’s lives along with requirements about how to distribute has resulted in abortions by mail across the country. Also established with that change is government sanctioned, corporate dumping of pathological medical waste – a de facto right to pollute with chemically tainted blood, placenta tissue, and human remains flushed into America’s waterways.
“Even if you support abortion, that’s not an argument in favor of abortion pollution in our drinking water. The FDA policy allows the billion-dollar U.S. abortion enterprise a government-sanctioned right to pollute. Neither hospitals nor brick-and-mortar abortion vendors can flush human remains and placenta tissue, not legally anyway. But that’s what’s happening today, in homes and dorms across America. The very least we should be able to expect is tracking the waste to determine how much at risk we all are,” said Students for Life Action President Kristan Hawkins.
IN THE LETTER TO CONGRESS, the leaders note that no effort has been made to understand the environmental impact of the Biden Administration’s Chemical Abortion Policy.
They write:
“The safety of America’s drinking water demands that deliberate pollution be addressed, and pollutants tracked to the best of our nation’s ability. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun monitoring a list of “forever chemicals” – substances that linger in America’s drinking water and are determined to pose a risk to those exposed to them. In a recent letter sent to the EPA, Students for Life of America explained, “In recent years, and largely in 2023, the EPA has increased its efforts to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”). With rulemaking, guidance, published initiatives, newly established pollution standards, and more, the EPA has addressed concerns of pollution as a result of PFAS being released on large scales into the environment. The EPA’s increased understanding of the environmental harms these chemicals create has led it to take a closer look at the issue and ultimately implement new strategies and regulations to control the release of PFAS and monitor their impact more carefully. In implementing these new initiatives, the EPA has shown a commitment to monitoring and controlling the effect that a constant stream of chemicals and harmful substances – no matter how small those substances may be – may have on the environment.”
“In light of this effort, we urge you to direct the EPA to conduct regular and comprehensive environmental testing for the presence of the abortion drug mifepristone in the same manner as testing is conducted for “forever chemicals” or PFAS chemicals.
… As there is no mandatory national abortion data collected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) nor is there consistent data regarding adverse outcomes by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the full scope of mifepristone use is poorly tracked. As such, data on the scope of any environmental hazard is also limited.
“However, the scope of potential environmental contamination is likely on the rise, when considering that three-quarters of abortions in Europe are committed with Mifepristone pills, according to the New York Times. Elsewhere the percentage is even higher, as an NIH report notes that countries like Finland use Mifepristone pills 97.7% of the time, and in Sweden, the pills are used more than 96.4% of the time.
… “Heightened distribution of abortion drugs gives urgency to the need for environmental monitoring in the interest of protecting life, from endangered species to human beings. Doing so is vital to ensuring that our environment does not fall victim to unintended consequences.”
Students for Life Action and Students for Life of America have raised the issue of environmental justice and abortion for more than six years, with four citizen petitions filed at the FDA demanding that the harms of abortion to the preborn, women, endangered species, and water be addressed.
Earlier this year, SFLA’s Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement/YouGov poll found that MORE THAN 9 IN 10 registered youth voters supported health and safety standards for the deadly drugs as well as environmental protections.
“ON PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT: Women taking the abortion pills are instructed to flush the products of the abortion (placenta, the human embryo or fetus, blood) in the toilet. This healthcare or medical waste can be “hazardous if not disposed properly.” Additionally, given how one of the abortion pills (misoprostol) is administered/inserted, some of that medication could be passed into the toilet as well (see this website). All of this could then pass to the wastewater system, potentially affecting the fertility of animals and fish, according to an article by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“Asked about the importance of conducting studies on the potential environmental impact of waste and drugs related to abortion, more than 9 in 10 (91%) said that it was somewhat to extremely important to have environmental testing, with 37% saying extremely important – up from 30% last year.
“ON REQUIRING THE SAME KIND OF STANDARDS FOR MEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL FOR ABORTION AS FOR OTHER MEDICAL WASTE: In doctor’s offices, clinics, and hospitals, medical waste of all types is collected in red or yellow bags and containers for medical waste to dispose of properly. These bags/containers are also sometimes used in the home setting, for the placenta from at-home births, for miscarriages, and to collect kidney stones, among other reasons. Considering the environmental impact noted above, how important is it to require those who distribute abortion pills to also provide medical bags/ containers to collect the products of abortion and return to the provider for disposal?
“9 in 10 supported requiring Red Bag Medical Waste disposal of the chemically tainted blood, placenta tissue, and human remains from abortion, with 33% saying this was extremely important, up from 30% last year.”
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The Pro-Life Generation (PLG) is an umbrella organization encompassing the most-cutting edge engagement opportunities for a Vote Pro-Life First Community. PLG includes Students for Life Action (SFLAction), a 501c4, along with its 501c3 sister organization, Students for Life of America (SFLA), that together make up the nation’s largest, pro-life youth organization, managing a grassroots political and policy operation engaging Americans of all ages but with a special emphasis on the largest segment of voters — the Youth Vote. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, PLG/SFLA/SFLAction serves more than 1,400 groups on middle, high school, college, medical, and law school campuses in all 50 states. Our team has more conversations with this generation targeted by the abortion lobby than any other pro-life operation in the world, each week reaching more than 4 million across social media platforms and averaging 1.3 million video views. In addition to SFLA/SFLAction, PLG leads multiple initiatives to lead and serve the future of the pro-life movement including the Campaign for Abortion Free Cities, Standing With You, and the Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement . Over more than 17 years, PLG CEO Kristan Hawkins has grown the operation into a nearly $20M organization, now preparing for an abortion-free America.