{"id":9619,"date":"2026-05-01T10:00:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T15:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/josh-hawley-puts-missouri-at-center-of-national-fight-over-abortion-pill-2\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T10:00:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T15:00:05","slug":"josh-hawley-puts-missouri-at-center-of-national-fight-over-abortion-pill-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/josh-hawley-puts-missouri-at-center-of-national-fight-over-abortion-pill-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Hawley puts Missouri at center of national fight over abortion pill"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/joshhawley-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a ceremonial swearing-in with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., as his wife Erin Morrow Hawley, and children Elijah, Blaise and Abigail, look on at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. \u00a0(Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images)\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>\n<p>Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a ceremonial swearing-in with Sen. Josh Hawley as his wife Erin Morrow Hawley, and children Elijah, Blaise and Abigail, look on at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images).<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span>U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has opened a new front in the fight over medication abortion, pushing legislation to revoke federal approval of mifepristone, urging the Justice Department to investigate its manufacturer and helping launch a national political group aimed at reshaping abortion debates after a string of losses on the ballot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The push has made Missouri a central arena in the national fight over mifepristone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s not just focused on Hawley\u2019s efforts. A major federal lawsuit looking to limit access to the drug is currently playing out in St. Louis <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/2025\/10\/01\/federal-lawsuit-limit-access-abortion-pill-mifepristone-texas-missouri\/\"><span>after Missouri became the lead plaintiff.<\/span><\/a><span> The state\u2019s attorney general is pursuing a separate case against Planned Parenthood, testing the ability to wield consumer-protection laws as a means to limit mifepristone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Later this year, voters will decide the fate of a proposed abortion ban placed on the ballot by Missouri lawmakers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Nearly 18 months ago, Missouri voters approved a constitutional right to abortion, becoming the first state to overturn an abortion ban through the people\u2019s vote. But medication abortion \u2014 which now accounts for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/briefs\/medication-abortion-rates-grew-10-over-the-last-few-years-report-shows\/\"><span>about two-thirds of abortions<\/span><\/a><span> in the United States \u2014 remains unavailable through Missouri providers as a <a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/2026\/01\/28\/missouri-abortion-judge-weighs-constitutionality-trap-laws-trial-amendment\/\">state court weighs which regulations<\/a> on the medication and its providers are now unconstitutional under the new amendment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In April, Hawley called on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to open an investigation into Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of brand-name mifepristone, the first medication taken during a medical abortion that causes the embryo or fetus to stop growing and detach from the uterine wall. If Blanche follows through, it, could disrupt the supply of the drug nationwide. A few weeks earlier, Hawley announced legislation aimed at ending the use of mifepristone for abortion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt is time for Congress to do something about this racket, and it is a racket,\u201d Hawley said during a March press conference, calling on his colleagues to withdraw the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s approval of mifepristone, which is also used to treat miscarriages. \u201cIt is time for Congress to ban the use of mifepristone for abortion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/subscribe\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"subscribeShortcodeContainer\">\n<div class=\"subscribeTextContainer\">\n                <i class=\"fas fa-envelope\"><\/i>\n<p>GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscribeButtonContainer\">\n                <button>SUBSCRIBE<\/button>\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>        <\/p>\n<p><span>Few Republicans in Washington have made mifepristone as central to their work as Hawley. He has introduced or co-sponsored multiple measures targeting the drug, pressed the FDA and DOJ in letters and floor speeches, and made the medication a recurring theme of his public appearances. Abortion-rights advocates say his focus reflects a broader strategy to restrict abortion nationally, even in states where voters have backed legal access.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That strategy, they argue, is being built in Missouri.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cA lot of what we see happening across the country and at the federal level against reproductive freedom has its roots in Missouri,\u201d said Emily Steinert McDowell, associate director of federal policy with Reproductive Freedom for All. \u201cA lot of that does have to do with the leadership from Senator Hawley.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Missouri connection extends beyond the senator.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, a former Missouri solicitor general, was among the lead donors to the campaign against Missouri\u2019s 2024 abortion-rights amendment. Two federal judges nominated by President Donald Trump \u2014 Joshua Divine and Maria Lanahan \u2014 worked in the Missouri Attorney General\u2019s Office on litigation challenging the FDA\u2019s approval of mifepristone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/26\/us\/erin-hawley-abortion-pill-supreme-court.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span>Erin Hawley,<\/span><\/a><span> wife to Josh Hawley, argued against the medication before the court, which ruled that the anti-abortion doctors and organizations challenging the drug lacked standing. The case has since returned to the lower courts and was relocated to Missouri where the attorneys general of Kansas and Idaho joined Missouri in trying to give the challenge new life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Hawleys also recently launched the Love Life Initiative. The group, organized as a nonprofit that does not disclose its donors, says it will invest in anti-abortion and pro-family messaging around the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThis is more a story about the nature of Missouri politics than it is about the nature of Missourians,\u201d said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California-Davis and a leading expert on abortion in America. \u201cSo this is partly about the efficacy of the anti-abortion movement in Missouri, and the fact that a lot of politicians with national ambitions have made Missouri home, like Senator Hawley.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Hawley was not available for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The shift in access to medication abortion came under the Biden administration, when the FDA allowed for the mailing of mifepristone and for prescriptions to be made online or through pharmacies without seeing a doctor in-person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>During the March press conference, Hawley decried decisions by the Obama and Biden administrations to expand access to the medication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThey did it because they wanted to turn mifepristone into the driver of abortion on demand, and we have to admit today they largely succeeded,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/womens-health-policy\/abortion-trends-before-and-after-dobbs\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span>more abortions now<\/span><\/a><span> in the United States than there were when Roe versus Wade was the law of the land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the first six months of 2025, an estimated 15,000 abortions occurred each month using telehealth, according to the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/societyfp.org\/research\/wecount\/wecount-june-2025-data\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span> Society of Family Planning.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>While an estimate is not available specifically for Missouri, it\u2019s widely known that getting abortion medication through the mail is possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>To test how easy it was to access abortion medication, Sam Lee, a longtime anti-abortion lobbyist in Jefferson City, says he ordered mifepristone and misoprostol for \u201cdirt cheap\u201d off eBay in early 2022. He said the medication arrived at his Missouri home from India within about 26 days. At the time, doctors in Missouri could not legally prescribe the medication.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the time since, Lee said it\u2019s become more clear to him that without limiting mifepristone on the federal level, abortions will continue in large numbers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cFor years you could say, \u2018okay, well, abortions are done at this local abortion clinic. If we just shut down the abortion clinic, if we just shut down Planned Parenthood\u2019s clinic where they\u2019re doing abortions, that will take care of it,\u2019\u201d Lee said. \u201cThat\u2019s just not the case anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Missouri leaders began paying closer attention to medication abortion about a decade ago, Lee said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In 2017, Republicans passed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/revisor.mo.gov\/main\/OneSection.aspx?section=188.021\" target=\"_blank\"><span>abortion regulations<\/span><\/a><span> requiring mifepristone to be administered by a doctor, and only if the provider has a complication plan approved by the state that includes a contract with an OB-GYN who can be on call 24\/7 to treat any complications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That change effectively halted Missouri doctors\u2019 ability to prescribe abortion medication.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The FDA states that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/drugs\/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers\/questions-and-answers-mifepristone-medical-termination-pregnancy-through-ten-weeks-gestation#:~:text=When%20did%20the%20FDA%20approve,ten%20weeks%20gestation%20in%202016.\" target=\"_blank\">mifepristone is safe to use if taken as directed<\/a> in the first trimester of pregnancy. That conclusion has become a focal point in anti-abortion challenges to the drug.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Hawley has called the medication \u201cinherently dangerous\u201d and \u201cinherently prone to abuse,\u201d noting a dozen instances in the past year where he said men were criminally charged with giving a woman mifepristone without her consent.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-27098 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mifepristone-tablets.jpeg\" alt=\"Clinicians are providing medication abortion through telehealth services even to people in states where abortion is banned, thanks in part to shield laws in states where abortion is still legal. (Natalie Behring\/Getty Images)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Clinicians are providing medication abortion through telehealth services even to people in states where abortion is banned, thanks in part to shield laws in states where abortion is still legal (Natalie Behring\/Getty Images).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span>He also points to a 2025 study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a right-leaning think tank, which concludes that serious complications from mifepristone are much more common than the FDA reports.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That study has been<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/19thnews.org\/2025\/05\/abortion-opponents-mifepristone-junk-science\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span> widely criticized by medical professionals as flawed and politically-motivated<\/span><\/a><span>. The paper concluded that 1 in 10 people who take mifepristone experience a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;opi=89978449&amp;url=https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2025\/05\/12\/abortion-pill-medication-abortion-study-mifepristone\/&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi7kKikoJiUAxXSliYFHb4PFSwQFnoECB4QAQ&amp;usg=AOvVaw0DzeKPK0pHYvYO3AbD1-HA\" target=\"_blank\">serious adverse event.\u00a0<\/a> <\/span>The FDA data cites serious adverse reactions in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accessdata.fda.gov\/drugsatfda_docs\/label\/2016\/020687s020lbl.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">less than 0.5% of women<\/a> who take the medication. <span>Critics of the latest study said the decision to include visits to the emergency room when the patient doesn\u2019t require admission as well as follow-up appointments as adverse outcomes was misleading.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Since the medication was approved for use nearly three decades ago, the FDA has reported only <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/media\/164331\/download\" target=\"_blank\"><span>32 deaths associated with mifepristone<\/span><\/a><span>. The report evaluates data from 5.9 million women who took mifepristone between 2000 and 2022. Of the three dozen deaths, 11 were the result of sepsis, 20 were homicides and two were suicides.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bleeding and cramping are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/drugs\/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers\/questions-and-answers-mifepristone-medical-termination-pregnancy-through-ten-weeks-gestation#:~:text=When%20did%20the%20FDA%20approve,ten%20weeks%20gestation%20in%202016.\" target=\"_blank\"><span>expected side effects.<\/span><\/a><span> More rarely, there can be hemorrhaging and infection. Those prescribed mifepristone are urged to call their doctor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accessdata.fda.gov\/drugsatfda_docs\/label\/2023\/020687Orig1s025Lbl.pdf#page=16\" target=\"_blank\"><span>if they experience heavy bleeding, abdominal pain or a fever. <\/span><\/a><span>This guidance also applies to those who recently underwent surgical abortions, experienced miscarriages or delivered a baby.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cMissouri is leading the way in restoring commonsense limits on abortion that reflect the state\u2019s longstanding priorities, including health and safety standards for women and clarifying parental consent,\u201d Sue Liebel, director of state affairs with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She pointed to the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in Missouri this year that will ask voters if they want to reinstate a ban with limited exceptions for medical emergencies and survivors of rape and incest. It would also ban gender-affirming care for minors, which is already illegal in Missouri.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The ballot measure is among the recent strategies Ziegler has seen emerge from Missouri. She said she\u2019ll be watching closely to see whether the decision by the Missouri legislature to tie the amendment to transgender issues may prove to be a reliable \u201cTrojan Horse\u201d strategy that could be copied by other anti-abortion legislatures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/2026\/03\/17\/missouri-poll-finds-ban-on-transgender-care-boosts-support-for-outlawing-abortion\/\"><span>SLU\/YouGov poll<\/span><\/a><span> found that while almost 60% of Missourians support abortion access until at least the eight week of pregnancy, even more Missourians \u2014\u00a067% \u2014\u00a0oppose puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender transition surgeries for minors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cFor the national anti-abortion movement,\u201d <\/span><span>Ziegler<\/span><span> said, \u201cMissouri is sort of a laboratory for other strategies that could be exported elsewhere to shut down access to abortion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She said this includes the \u201cvanguard\u201d consumer protection lawsuit against Planned Parenthood challenging its portrayal of mifepristone\u2019s safety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"J4WQhbvEQj\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/2026\/03\/30\/missouri-abortion-amendment-3-campaign-effort-2026\/\">After narrow 2024 loss, Missouri abortion opponents reorganize for 2026 vote<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Last July, then-Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Planned Parenthood Federation of America for $1.8 million in damages, claiming the nonprofit violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act for stating on its website that mifepristone is \u201csafer than many other medicines like penicillin, Tylenol, and Viagra.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In November, current Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway asked a federal court to roll back the FDA\u2019s decision to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/2025\/11\/20\/missouri-challenges-fda-approval-generic-mifepristone-limit-medication-abortion\/\"><span>approve a new generic brand of mifepristone.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cFor Missouri and other states with strong protections for unborn life and maternal health, the widespread mail-order distribution of mifepristone directly undermines state law and burdens state hospitals, emergency rooms, and taxpayers,\u201d Hanaway said at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Hanaway in a statement Wednesday said she will continue advocating for additional regulations around mifepristone use, including in-person appointments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Missouri Attorney General,\u201d she wrote, \u201cI am proud to lead the fight to protect women\u2019s health and safety, ensure every unborn child has a voice, and defend the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/religion\/fact-sheet\/public-opinion-on-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span>A majority of Americans<\/span><\/a><span> support at least some access to abortion, including<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2023\/04\/11\/by-more-than-two-to-one-americans-say-medication-abortion-should-be-legal-in-their-state\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span> medication abortion<\/span><\/a><span>, polling by the Pew Research Centers shows.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It could be why some Republicans on the national level have been quieter on the subject, especially ahead of the midterms. Many anti-abortion activists have expressed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/19thnews.org\/2026\/02\/trump-abortion-state-of-the-union\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span>frustration with the <\/span><span>second Trump administration\u2019s reluctance to talk about abortion.<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0But Missouri\u2019s leaders haven\u2019t shied away from the issue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cFolks who are being rewarded,\u201d Steinert McDowell said, \u201cDespite doing this advocacy \u2014 or perhaps because of doing this advocacy \u2014 to undermine access to abortion care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a ceremonial swearing-in with Sen. Josh Hawley as his wife Erin Morrow Hawley, and children Elijah, Blaise and Abigail, look on at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images). U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has opened a new front in the fight over medication abortion,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Josh Hawley puts Missouri at center of national fight over abortion pill - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/josh-hawley-puts-missouri-at-center-of-national-fight-over-abortion-pill-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Josh Hawley puts Missouri at center of national fight over abortion pill - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vice President Kamala Harris participates in a ceremonial swearing-in with Sen. Josh Hawley as his wife Erin Morrow Hawley, and children Elijah, Blaise and Abigail, look on at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images). U.S. Sen. 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