Washington Examiner opinion column argues mifepristone debate is fundamentally about the moral status of embryos and fetuses

An opinion column published in the Washington Examiner on behalf of Clare Ath, described as senior policy analyst at Human Coalition, frames the current debate over mifepristone and chemical abortion drugs as a question about the moral standing of the embryo or fetus — not primarily about maternal health or regulatory process.

Ath cites a study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which she describes as the largest of its kind, analyzing insurance claims from 865,727 mifepristone abortions between 2017 and 2023. The study found that more than 1 in 10 women who took the drug experienced a serious adverse event within 45 days, including sepsis, hemorrhage, and life-threatening infection. The column states the real-world adverse event rate is at least 22 times higher than what appears on the drug's FDA label.

The column calls for FDA reinstatement of in-person dispensing requirements, mandatory full adverse event reporting by manufacturers, and congressional oversight. It describes the FDA's removal of earlier safety requirements as having left women without adequate protection, and states that abusive partners can now order the drug and deliver it to women without their physicians' knowledge.