Republican attorneys general from 14 states and 19 Republican legislators are calling on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to classify and regulate the abortion drug mifepristone as a water pollutant.
Mifepristone is prescribed as part of a two-drug therapy to terminate a pregnancy. Research shows that medical abortion is safe and effective.
State officials argued in a letter last Friday that mifepristone poses a “growing threat to the nation’s waterways.” The letter was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas.
Similar claims were made in a concurrent letter led by New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith and signed by 18 other Republicans.
Environmental health science experts say there is no evidence that mifepristone in wastewater harms the environment or humans.
The Center for Biological Diversity, which advocates for stronger environmental protections, says on its website: “There is no evidence that medication abortion impacts the U.S. water system, including drinking water and aquatic wildlife.”
The Republicans’ letter cites a 1996 FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research statement that mifepristone’s harmful effects on the environment are “not expected,” but acknowledges that mifepristone can enter the environment through excretion and disposal of pharmaceutical waste. But experts say trace amounts of drugs in water are common, and state environmental agencies and scientists test water for harmful contaminants as part of their protocols and research.
In 2025, state legislatures in seven states introduced nine bills containing claims about medication abortion and its impact on the environment and water. The state Legislature also introduced a bill that would require testing for mifepristone in water systems.
Last year, Republican lawmakers raised similar concerns in a letter to the EPA.
The U.S. Supreme Court last month decided to maintain telemedicine access to mifepristone until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rules on the merits of the high-stakes federal case, State of Louisiana v. Food and Drug Administration.
In 2023, medical abortions accounted for nearly two-thirds of all clinician-performed abortions in states without abortion bans, according to the latest data available from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on advancing reproductive rights.
Stateline reporter Nada Hassanain can be reached at: (email protected).
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