June 18, 2025
WHO will call the shots on Chemical Abortion Pills in Illinois?
A bill now headed to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk would defer to the World Health Organization (WHO)—not the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)—to decide the future of Chemical Abortion Pills in Illinois.
House Bill 3637 would allow Illinois doctors to prescribe drugs that have been eliminated from the FDA’s approved list, only taking recommendations from the WHO and handing their state’s abortion policy to a global group with zero accountability, subjecting Illinois families to harm.
That includes Chemical Abortion Pills if they are removed from the FDA’s approved list.
Under the bill, a drug “not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shall not cause it to be deemed an adulterated drug,” if either peer-reviewed research supports its safety and efficacy, or “it is recommended for use by the World Health Organization”—even if the FDA has withdrawn approval and the labeling reflects outdated authorization.
If signed by Governor Pritzker, the bill would set a dangerous precedent by letting foreign agencies influence which drugs remain available—even when U.S. safety regulators pull the plug.
It is no secret that the WHO is outwardly pro-abortion. Back in 2022, the WHO released its self-management of medical abortion guidance, a five-page document of recommendations related to the Chemical Abortion Pill, claiming that “in early pregnancy, medical abortion can also be self-managed.”
The document starts with the WHO’s guidance—starting with a section on “self-management of medical abortion”—which appears to frame “safe abortion” as a form of “self-care,” setting the tone for the rest of the recommendations in this official HRP document.
The WHO goes so far as to suggest that “self-management approaches,” including Chemical Abortion Pills, “empower women.”
The WHO document then poses the question: “What is safe abortion care?”, declaring “around 73 million induced abortions take place each year,” but 1 in 2 abortions are reportedly considered “unsafe.”
The guidance emphasizes that individuals using Chemical Abortion Pills “should have a source of accurate information and access to a health worker should they need or want it at any stage of the process.” Both mifepristone and misoprostol (the two drugs in Chemical Abortion Pills) are now included in the WHO’s Essential Medicines List.
Here is some actual accurate information for the WHO: A study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) found that 1 in 10 women who took Chemical Abortion Pills experienced serious adverse effects and around 11% of women “experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.”
It obviously harms preborn children, as it’s designed to do so. And it harms mothers at a rate WAY higher than anyone’s willing to talk about: That’s not just alarming—it’s unacceptable. The document later highlights what it calls “health system barriers” to abortion. The WHO argues these barriers include high costs, pro-life laws, and mandatory waiting periods.
This is no surprise because their motive is clear. Craig Lissner, acting Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at WHO, asserts “Being able to obtain safe abortion is a crucial part of health care.”
Mr. Lissner argues that “nearly every death and injury that results from unsafe abortion is entirely preventable. That’s why we recommend women and girls can access abortion and family planning services when they need them.” WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus also called abortion “safe” and “healthcare that saves lives.” There is no such thing as a safe abortion. Period.
“Women should always have the right to choose when it comes to their bodies and their health” Ghebreyesus states. “Restricting access to abortion does not reduce the number of procedures, and only drives women and girls towards unsafe ones, and also death.”
It is a grave concern that “leaders” so far removed from Illinois and the United States could influence abortion policy.
Illinois media reports that Illinois Republican state Rep. Bill Hauter of Morton, who is an emergency room doctor, said the bill is setting a dangerous precedent. “It’s a foreign, unelected, unaccountable organization that’s mostly controlled by China,” Hauter said. “Illinois legislators said they’d rather have the WHO do it because they want to make sure that their abortion drug is available in Illinois.'”
And China’s rising control of the WHO isn’t just speculation. Since 2014, China’s contributions to the WHO have surged by around 52%, reaching approximately $88 million—driven largely by increases in required payments tied to its economic growth, but also through higher voluntary contributions.
House Select Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup also investigated how the WHO handled the COVID pandemic, reported that the interests of China were the priorities of WHO official rather than health concerns. “All in all, we saw the (WHO) more influenced by politics than public health,” to the committee.
That certainly explains why Planned Parenthood’s founded Guttmacher Institute as allowing abortion dangers for political and financial reasons is policy number one for big abortion.
And it’s worth asking whether the WHO’s pro-China bias, widely reported, extends to Chemical Abortion Pills because they are a major manufacturer of the deadly drugs?
Given the WHO’s track-record and reported biases, statements from the WHO in favor of all things abortion should not be surprising. The WHO has long marched to the beat of a radically pro-abortion drum, calling for a full-scale removal of every abortion restriction worldwide.
In 2023, the WHO released its budget for its Human Reproduction Programme (HRP), listing “safe abortions” as the third-largest funding category at 11% just behind “maternal and perinatal health” at 15% and “scientific leadership and capacity strengthening” at 12%. Somehow, “safe abortions” eat up more of the budget compared to fighting against “violence against women and girls” at 5% of the funding.
The WHO pushes a clear agenda and makes no effort to hide its pro-abortion stance. And if Illinois lawmakers hand over authority to the WHO, they are endorsing their dangerous agenda. That means surrendering state sovereignty to a global entity that promotes abortion on demand, regardless of safety risks for women and preborn children.
Another Illinois bill could further expand the trafficking of Chemical Abortion Pills if Governor Pritzker signs it. House Bill 3709 could turn college campuses into pill dispensaries for death by requiring public colleges with student health centers to peddle contraception and Chemical Abortion Pills to students.
Apart from the obvious dangers of students bleeding out in dorm rooms or more easily being non-consensually drugged by abusive partners, this also means that Illinois students are likely to be forced to fund Chemical Abortion through their school health insurance.
The WHO holds no rightful role with steering abortion policy in the United States—yet under HB 3637, Illinois puts their very status as a state in question as they opt for Global governance.
READ MORE: Abortion on Campuses? Illinois Bill Could Turn College Campuses into Pill Dispensaries for Death