PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Dec 21, 2022
Protecting Life from Chemical Abortions Act
This bill prohibits certain changes made by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to dispensing requirements for mifepristone. (Mifepristone is a drug that is approved to end pregnancies through 10 weeks gestation when used in conjunction with the drug misoprostol. The procedure is often referred to as medication abortion or the abortion pill.)
The FDA regulates the use of mifepristone through the Mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program. The program requires health care providers to comply with certain requirements in order to prescribe or dispense mifepristone to end a pregnancy; the program previously included an in-person dispensing requirement that required mifepristone to be directly dispensed to patients in clinics, medical offices, or hospitals. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the FDA temporarily stopped enforcing the in-person dispensing requirement, which allowed mail-order pharmacies to fill and dispense mifepristone prescriptions.
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The bill prohibits the FDA from (1) exercising any enforcement discretion with respect to program requirements, or (2) reducing program protections until every state submits certain data regarding abortions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The bill also generally prohibits the declaration of a public health emergency with respect to abortions.
People & committees
Rep. Hern, Kevin [R-OK-1] · R–OK
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jan 3, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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