State AGs urge EPA to address concerns about abortion drugs in water supply

(Liberty Counsel Action) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fourteen Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging a federal investigation and stringent regulation of the abortion pill Mifepristone as a U.S. water supply contaminant. The letter, authored by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and signed by 13 additional attorneys general, expresses concern over the rise in telehealth prescriptions and mail-order delivery of abortion pills with little federal safeguards, which is leading to the flushing of human fetal remains and active abortion drug metabolites into the nation’s wastewater systems potentially contaminating local drinking water.

The coalition of attorneys general claim tons of abortion-related medical waste enter U.S. waterways annually and urge the EPA to add Mifepristone to the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). The CCL is a regulatory tool under the Safe Drinking Water Act that identifies contaminants that are not yet subject to any water protection regulations. Once a substance is on the CCL, it triggers federal safety studies on its health effects whereby the EPA must then decide how to regulate the substance.

The letter states that the FDA’s “unlawful and unsafe” deregulation of Mifepristone over the last 10 years has resulted in an “upsurge” in at-home chemical abortions where “tainted medical waste” is being flushed into wastewater systems that are not designed to remove such contaminants.

The letter notes that, “by design,” the “endocrine disrupting chemicals” in Mifepristone starve a baby to death in the womb, and “it follows” that these substances will remain active in the water even after water treatment whereby unintentional ingestion through the public water supply could cause health complications, especially among pregnant women. 

“We therefore urge this agency to abide by its duty to identify the contaminants most harmful to ‘sensitive subgroups,’ including pregnant women,’” reads the letter. “The health of pregnant women and Americans everywhere may depend on it.”

Joining Missouri AG Hanaway in the petition is: Alabama AG Steve Marshall, Alaska AG Cori Mills, Arkansas AG Tim Griffin, Florida AG James Uthmeier, Idaho AG Raul Labrador, Indiana AG Todd Rokita, Kansas AG Kris Kobach, Kentucky AG Russell Coleman, Louisiana AG Liz Murrill, Nebraska AG Mike Hilgers, Oklahoma AG Gentner Drummond, South Carolina AG Alan Wilson, and Texas AG Ken Paxton. 

In parallel, Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) introduced in the U.S. House in March 2026 the “Clean Water for All Life Act.” The bill seeks to mandate in-person doctor visits for prescribing abortion drugs, a doctor to be present during an abortion, and to require “catch kits” to prevent water supply contamination. 

Rep. Miller noted that “one in ten women and girls” who take abortion drugs “need serious medical care afterward,” making the abortion pill both a human health and environmental hazard.

 “These do-it-yourself, at-home, chemical abortion pills are allowing women to expel the baby into the toilet, and it’s going into our wastewater,” she stated. “So my bill is going to put an end to this reckless practice that harms women, degrades human dignity, and contaminates our environment.” 

Since May 2025, Liberty Counsel Action (LCA) has helped elevate the issue of abortion-related contaminants in the nation’s water supply within the federal government through its initiative: “Abortion in Our Water” (AIOW). LCA has presented both the FDA and EPA with evidence that chemical abortion drugs are contaminating America’s drinking water and has recommended that federal agencies assess U.S. water sources for potential abortion pill contaminants and their possible adverse effects, and initiate proper disposal protocols for the aborted fetal remains and medical waste associated with chemical abortions. LCA also recommended the FDA suspend the drug’s current approval until the assessment is complete. 

LCA Chairman Mat Staver said, “With more than 600,000 at-home abortions every year, the American people deserve clear, scientific data regarding the abortion-related contaminants entering into our water. The potential for endocrine-disrupting chemicals in our water is not a partisan debate, rather it presents a federal obligation to investigate and make decisions that protect environmental safety and public health. Not only are long-lasting metabolites from Mifepristone entering our water, so are human remains. The water systems were never designed to filter out these chemicals and human remains. Chemical abortion is a public health crisis that must be addressed.”