(The Center Square) – Of the many pro-life policy reversals of the Trump administration, another includes the administration’s refusal to ban mail-order abortion pills or at least restore pre-Biden administration-era policies that required safeguards.
If the Trump administration took action, it would be more difficult for men to purchase mail order abortion drugs and use them against pregnant women without their knowledge, critics argue. Although Texas has banned mail order abortion pills, residents are still ordering and receiving them.
The latest case occurred in Montgomery County, Texas, where a woman was rushed to the hospital and suffered a miscarriage under suspicious circumstances. She told law enforcement she believed the father of the baby had given her the abortion pill without her knowledge or consent to terminate her pregnancy. The baby was stillborn.
Detectives with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Major Crimes Unit, Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, and Crime Scene Investigators launched an investigation. They say they discovered that the baby’s father previously attempted to get the mother to have an abortion, offering to pay for her to travel out of state.
She refused, stating she wanted to keep the baby. Authorities determined he gave her the abortion pill without her knowledge or consent, causing the baby’s death.
Jon Rueben Gabriel Demeter of Spring, Texas, was arrested on Feb. 23 and charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon Causing Serious Bodily Injury-Family Violence. He is being held in the Montgomery County Jail with no bond.
This was after a Parker County man and Trump administration Department of Justice staffer allegedly ordered chemical abortion pills online and gave it to his former girlfriend without her knowledge or consent, The Center Square reported. He was charged with capital murder and denies any wrongdoing.
After the overturn of Roe v. Wade, abortion is illegal in Texas with certain exceptions. Despite Texas abortion bans, abortion medications mifepristone (Mifeprex) and Misoprostol are being delivered in Texas.
Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law The Texas Woman and Child Protection Act, which creates civil penalties of up to $100,000 for producers and distributors of chemical abortion pills in Texas. The law created civil liability tools to use against those “mailing, delivering, or trafficking abortion pills,” according to the bill language. It also holds liable manufacturers and distributors of abortion pills and allows women and their family members “to bring wrongful death and injury suits six years after being injured by abortion,” according to the bill analysis.
“Abortion drugs are the modern back-alley abortions – hidden from view, often coerced and dangerous to women,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said. The latest death in Texas “is heartbreaking proof that the unregulated flow of mail-order abortion drugs is enabling a wave of forced abortions across our nation.”
She argues the situation women are increasingly finding themselves in was created by the Biden administration, which essentially nullified mail-order abortion pill regulations by eliminating in-person dispensing requirements. The Trump administration won’t reverse the policy, implement new restrictions or ban the pills altogether despite calls by the prolife community to do so.
A new report published by Live Action cites health and safety concerns related to chemical abortion pills, including women needing emergency care for infection, hemorrhaging or other life-threatening adverse reactions. It also points to a lack of regulatory oversight of online dispensing with little to no accountability for what is mailed past gestational guidelines or to minors.
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice is also fighting cases where Republican-led states sued the FDA over its mail-order abortion policy, or lack thereof.
In a Louisiana case, a woman sued the FDA alleging her ex-boyfriend ordered the abortion drug from a California provider and coerced her to take it. A similar case was filed in the Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division. The Trump administration is fighting both, claiming the plaintiffs lack standing.
A recent nationwide poll on abortion drugs shows Trump administration abortion pill policies are at odds with his Republican base.
A national survey of Republican voters ahead of the midterm elections found that 86% oppose federal tax dollars funding abortion, 79% support keeping the Hyde Amendment and 75% support defunding Planned Parenthood. Another 71% oppose the current mail-order abortion policy.
Another national poll reveals 71% of voters polled want the FDA to implement regulations to require a doctor’s visit to obtain a prescription prior to purchasing the drug.
