America’s Catholic bishops are preparing a countrywide prayer-and-action campaign beginning August 18, aimed at rallying Catholics to respond to the increasing abortion rate and the growing availability of abortion drugs.

Key Takeaways:

• USCCB leaders are noting the increasing lives ended by abortion due to "easier access to abortion pills" and are calling for "a focused effort of prayer and action to stop the spread of abortion pills," involving seeking “the intercession of St. Joseph, Defender of Life” and sending messages to pharmaceutical businesses involved in the dispensing and sale of abortion drugs.

• The Catholic Church teaches that every human life is sacred from conception until natural death, and as such, abortion is always wrong.

• Because of increased access to the abortion pill, abortions have been increasing; even the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute notes that its tracking of abortion pill statistics are most likely an undercount.

The Details:

According to OSV News, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, issued joint remarks addressing the alarming increase in abortions in the United States. They noted, “Every abortion involves the death of a child and harm to the mother. Now with easier access to abortion pills, the abortion rate is tragically climbing, along with increased health risks."

The outlet reported:

A federal policy permitting distribution of mifepristone, sometimes called the abortion pill, by mail that was first issued by the Biden administration has thus far been left in place by the second Trump administration.

The Department of Justice, under the current Trump administration, has sought to block state challenges to the policy pending a promised safety review by the Food and Drug Administration. But the status and timeline of the FDA review are unclear.

The outlet added:

Archbishop Coakley and Bishop Thomas wrote the FDA “has enabled a nationwide mail-order abortion industry by allowing abortion pills to be prescribed in telehealth appointments and sold both at neighborhood pharmacies and online, circumventing state laws that protect life in the womb.”

“This leaves women vulnerable to suffering an abortion alone at home, without any medical supervision,” they said. “It also sets up additional opportunities for exploitation by violent partners or human traffickers.”

The bishops said that now through the end of October, when the Church in the U.S. marks Respect Life Month, “the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities is inviting Catholics to join a focused effort of prayer and action to stop the spread of abortion pills.”

They urged Catholics to seek “the intercession of St. Joseph, Defender of Life” as well as to send messages to pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies that are involved.

Why It Matters:

In remarks cited by OSV News, Kat Talalas, assistant director for pro-life communications at the USCCB’s Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, said,

We are setting up a simple on-line platform allowing users to click and send one message that will go to multiple entities, such as brick-and-mortar pharmacies and online pharmacies, distributors, and pharmaceutical companies. We are also developing educational resources about the abortion pill, which will help explain distinctions between miscarriage care versus ending the life of a child in an abortion.

The Catholic Church teaches that every human life is sacred from conception until natural death, and as such, abortion is always wrong.

The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute typically tracks abortion statistics on a more comprehensive level than the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and, as Live Action News reported:

In June of 2026, Guttmacher updated abortion data for 2025 from the 1,126,000 estimated total previously reported to 1,129,900 estimated abortions. This updated figure reflects 3,096 abortions per day, 21,729 per week, and 94,158 per month and brings the estimated total number of abortions since Roe to 66 million.

However, what makes these statistics even more alarming is the fact that they are almost certainly an undercount, Live Action News also pointed out:

Guttmacher says its data is likely an undercount, because it does not include data about advance provision of abortion pills (which is not FDA-approved), the number of abortions provided under "exceptions" to pro-life laws, or abortions "not provided by US clinicians" which would include the ordering of the abortion pill through a website.

Zoom In:

The bishops are lobbying for Catholics to act, and to pray: first, by calling on the faithful to contact pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies involved in the abortion pill pipeline, and to pray for the intercession of St. Joseph, Defender of Life.

The bishops’ call points to several practical tasks. First, Catholics and pro-lifers should regard the abortion pill industry’s influence and hold it accountable. When abortion is delivered through a phone and a mailbox, the pro-life response must also be digitally savvy, persistent, and public by countering such outreach. Pro-lifers should support pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and parish efforts. Women must be provided practical resources when they are afraid, poor, unsupported, or pressured.

Pro-lifers should likewise pressure pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies to stop distributing abortion drugs. The bishops’ invitation is important because corporations react to pressure. If they believe abortion sales carry reputational cost, they may think twice about further entrenching their role in the abortion industry.

The bishops’ message exhorting people to prayer reminds us that no pro-life policy can be sustained without moral renewal. America did not arrive at this abortion crisis by accident, but by a gradual turning away from God. 

The Bottom Line:

All in all, the bishops’ message is a sobering reminder of of what the pro-life cause is really about: a child, a mother, a conscience, a society. Abortion is not simply one issue among many. It is a direct attack on the weakest human beings, and the growing reliance on abortion pills makes that attack easier to hide but no less unconscionable.