Condemning the pro-abortion policies of the Biden administration.

This resolution condemns the Food and Drug Administration's decision in January 2023 to remove in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1285 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1285

   Condemning the pro-abortion policies of the Biden administration.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2024

Mr. Moran (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Biggs, Mr. Banks, 
  Mr. Duncan, Mr. Babin, Mr. Guest, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Fleischmann, Mr. 
  Mooney, Mrs. Bice, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Weber of 
 Texas, Ms. Boebert, Mr. Pfluger, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Moore of Alabama, 
Mr. Fulcher, Mr. Kustoff, Mr. Gooden of Texas, Mr. Webster of Florida, 
Mr. Moolenaar, Mrs. Lesko, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Austin Scott 
 of Georgia, Mr. Bilirakis, Mrs. Harshbarger, Mr. Carter of Texas, Mr. 
Burgess, Mr. Pence, Mr. Higgins of Louisiana, Mr. Cline, Mr. Crane, Mr. 
Ogles, Mr. Self, Mr. Hern, Mr. Dunn of Florida, and Ms. Foxx) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
                              and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Condemning the pro-abortion policies of the Biden administration.

Whereas in this resolution, the term ``induced abortion''--

    (1) means a procedure with the intent to deliberately end the life of 
the unborn child in their mother's womb; and

    (2) excludes procedures for the management of intrauterine fetal death, 
spontaneous miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, fetal remains, and that are 
necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman or girl;

Whereas chemically induced abortion in the United States most commonly occurs 
        through a two-drug process where the mother--

    (1) first takes mifepristone, a drug that blocks progesterone, a 
hormone that is necessary for a baby developing in the womb; and

    (2) later takes misoprostol, a drug that causes the uterus to contract, 
evacuating the baby and the other contents;

Whereas when the Commissioner of Food and Drugs initially approved mifepristone 
        in 2000, they exceeded their statutory authority, claimed pregnancy was 
        a life-threatening illness in order to fast-track approval of the drug 
        and jeopardized the health and safety of women and girls;
Whereas the Commissioner of Food and Drugs failed to study the effects of the 
        drug on minors, as required by Federal law, and failed to study the 
        safety of the drug under the labeled conditions of use;
Whereas mifepristone can cause complications, including life-threatening 
        hemorrhaging, infection, incomplete induced abortions that require the 
        need for emergency surgery, and mental health issues;
Whereas, according to the Food and Drug Administration's own label for 
        mifepristone, roughly one in twenty-five women will end up in the 
        emergency room after taking these drugs;
Whereas the Commissioner of Food and Drugs issued a risk evaluation and 
        mitigation strategy (in this preamble referred to as a ``REMS'') under 
        section 505-1 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 
        355-1) to attempt to mitigate the risks mifepristone poses to the health 
        of women and girls;
Whereas the initial safety requirements issued by the Commissioner of Food and 
        Drugs when administering mifepristone--

    (1) limited the indicated use of the drug to seven weeks gestation;

    (2) required at least three in-person doctor visits;

    (3) ensured in-person dispensing; and

    (4) required providers to report the occurrence of adverse events;

Whereas adverse events are defined in section 604-3 of the Federal Food, Drug, 
        and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 364) as any health-related event associated 
        with the use of a cosmetic product that is adverse;
Whereas in 2016, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs issued an updated REMS for 
        mifepristone that abandoned many of the initial safety requirements;
Whereas the Commissioner of Food and Drugs also removed the requirement for 
        prescribers to report non-lethal adverse events resulting in incomplete 
        data collection to monitor complications from mifepristone;
Whereas in the 2016 updated REMS, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs--

    (1) increased the gestation period where mifepristone may be taken from 
7 weeks to 10 weeks;

    (2) permitted non-physicians, who have less training in handling 
complications from mifepristone, to prescribe mifepristone; and

    (3) decreased mandatory office visits for patients from three to one, 
including eliminating the in-person follow-up examination that ensures a 
woman or girl has not suffered complications or retained fetal remains;

Whereas the Commissioner of Food and Drugs eliminated prior requirements that 
        prescribers report all serious complications from mifepristone;
Whereas the Commissioner of Food and Drugs does not have access to national data 
        for chemically induced abortions or for complications from abortions;
Whereas the decision of the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to no longer require 
        prescribers to report adverse events, other than death, further weakened 
        the accurate data the Food and Drug Administration has access to;
Whereas one study estimates that the Food and Drug Administration may be missing 
        data on up to 95 percent of serious adverse events;
Whereas serious adverse events are defined in section 604-5 of the Federal Food, 
        Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 364) as any adverse event that results 
        in death, a life-threatening experience, inpatient hospitalization, a 
        persistent or significant disability or incapacity, a congenital anomaly 
        or birth defect, an infection, or significant disfigurement (including 
        serious and persistent rashes, second- or third-degree burns, 
        significant hair loss, or persistent or significant alteration of 
        appearance), other than as intended, under conditions of use that are 
        customary or usual or requires, based on reasonable medical judgment, a 
        medical or surgical intervention to prevent such outcomes;
Whereas in 2021, based on incomplete and unreliable data, the Commissioner of 
        Food and Drugs eliminated the last remaining in-person office visit that 
        ensured women and girls do not have ectopic pregnancies or other life-
        threatening conditions before taking mifepristone;
Whereas the abandonment of these safeguards by the Commissioner of Food and 
        Drugs has allowed for chemically induced abortions by mail and online;
Whereas women and girls can now receive mifepristone without ever seeing a 
        practitioner and without any certainty that follow-up care is available 
        for potentially life-threatening complications;
Whereas women and girls located far from medical care centers will suffer 
        disproportionately because they may need to quickly access a hospital to 
        receive emergency surgery, blood transfusion, or intravenous 
        antibiotics, but are unable to access this care quickly;
Whereas in 2023, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs approved an updated REMS for 
        mifepristone that--

    (1) permanently removed the requirement that health care providers 
personally dispense mifepristone; and

    (2) allowed certified pharmacies from both physical locations and 
online retailers to dispense mifepristone;

Whereas there are no age limits on prescribing mifepristone, nor do the REMS for 
        mifepristone require parental consent or notice, meaning these drugs can 
        be sent through the mail to minors without the knowledge or consent of 
        their parents;
Whereas removing the in-person dispensing requirement has intensified health 
        risks for women and girls by removing the ability of practitioners to 
        diagnose an ectopic pregnancy through an ultrasound, which is the key 
        method of diagnosis;
Whereas mifepristone has no effect on an embryo implanted outside the uterus, 
        which could cause a woman or girl with an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy, 
        who has taken mifepristone, to believe she is no longer pregnant because 
        the early symptoms of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, such as heavy 
        bleeding, mirror those of a chemically induced abortion;
Whereas in reality the woman or girl would be at risk of rupturing a fallopian 
        tube, or another organ, leading to catastrophic hemorrhaging and 
        maternal death;
Whereas ectopic pregnancies occur in 1 out of every 50 pregnancies;
Whereas removing the in-person dispensing requirement prevents providers from 
        determining the gestational age of a baby;
Whereas more than one out of every three women or girls who take mifepristone 
        during their second trimester will require surgery;
Whereas removing the in-person dispensing requirement prevents providers from 
        administering RhoGAM to women or girls with Rh negative blood to prevent 
        potentially fatal complications for a baby in a future pregnancy;
Whereas removing the in-person dispensing requirement prevents providers from 
        screening for coercion, which can cause providers to be uncertain about 
        whether the mifepristone is being taken by the woman or girl to whom it 
        is being dispensed to and whether it is being taken willingly;
Whereas mifepristone has been used by domestic abusers to unknowingly drug 
        pregnant women and girls and to kill unborn babies;
Whereas mifepristone is also used by sex traffickers to coerce their victims 
        into having an induced abortion without seeing a health care provider, 
        which can be a key opportunity for the victims of sex trafficking to be 
        identified and assisted: and
Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the Commissioner of Food and Drugs for 
        lessening patient safeguards around a dangerous drug;
            (2) finds that the announcement from the Biden 
        administration, on January 3, 2023, that health care providers 
        are no longer required to personally dispense mifepristone, 
        endangers the health of women and girls and enables 
        reproductive coercion by human traffickers and domestic 
        abusers; and
            (3) condemns the Biden administration for its pro-abortion 
        policies that prioritize abortion businesses over the health 
        and safety of women and girls.
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