(Oregon Right to Life) — Pro-abortion student groups are relaunching a bid to get the University of Oregon to provide students with dangerous abortion pills after a similar effort failed in 2024. The move comes amid federal scrutiny of the abortion pill mifepristone, triggered by a blockbuster study suggesting that the adverse reaction rate associated with the drug is far higher than previously indicated by the FDA.
On Wednesday, the University of Oregon student news site The Daily Emerald reported that the university’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter was joining with the Associated Students of the University of Oregon group (ASUO) as well as 10 other student organizations to push for chemical abortions on campus. About 1100 students have reportedly signed petitions supporting access to abortion drugs through the college, and student organizations have reportedly put forward letters promoting the push.
A previous effort failed in 2024. The prior year, Republican lawmakers in Oregon carried out the longest walkout in state history, forcing the reduction of abortion-related expansions in HB 2002, a radical “reproductive health” bill. Students for Choice President Karlie Windle told The Daily Emerald that, because of the walkout and Republican lawmakers’ refusal to sign on,“the abortion care [sic] part of the legislation did not get passed.” ASUO President Prissila Moreno said the University of Oregon has pointed to HB 2002 in explaining its reasons for not supplying chemical abortion pills on campus.
Chemical abortion involves the use of two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone blocks the action of the growth hormone progesterone, causing the human embryo to die of starvation. Misoprostol is then used to induce contractions to expel the body. Women who take the abortion pills are frequently left to deal with the effects and side effects alone – effects that involve the sometimes traumatic delivery of their dead embryo, often in a toilet, and can include hemorrhaging, infection, and incomplete abortion (the failure to fully expel the body of the deceased human being).
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It was precisely these concerns – about the side effects associated with the drugs – that have caused hesitation among college administrators. The Daily Emerald reported that Windle said UO administrators have “had concerns in the past due to the controversial nature of the campaign, and the inability to financially support the service at UHS. Specifically, UHS noted they did not have a full-time staff member on call 24/7 to aid students undergoing side effects.”
And those concerns are far from groundless. Last year, the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) released a study calculating the severe complication rate associated with the drug to be twenty-two times the one currently listed on its official FDA label, causing serious concerns for the safety of women who consume the drug and renewing calls for a restoration of regulations.
The FDA and HHS have pledged to conduct a safety review of mifepristone, which could lead to a renewal of federal regulations and safeguards that have been severely eroded over the past decade. In 2016, the FDA expanded the timeframe in which mifepristone could be prescribed during pregnancy and removed the requirement to report complications that do not result in death. Then in 2021, the FDA permitted the prescription of mifepristone via telehealth (online) its distribution through the mail. Local pharmacies were also authorized to dispense the drugs, and in January 2023, that permission was extended to retail pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS.
READ: Pro-Life Advocates Increase Pressure on FDA to Conduct Abortion Pill Review: FDA Head Responds
In addition to the long-term and destructive physical (and often emotional and spiritual) side effects associated with the drugs to women, along with their intended lethality for the unborn, reports highlighted by pro-life organizations have emphasized the increased risks of coercion and abuse associated with the loosening of regulations surrounding access.
In the past several years alone, numerous men have been hit with criminal charges after spiking their wives’ or girlfriends’ drinks with abortion drugs. In 2024, for example, Ohio surgeon Dr. Hassan-James Abbas allegedly forced his pregnant girlfriend to consume mifepristone while she was asleep. Abbas now faces six felony charges. A 2023 peer-reviewed study found that 70% of abortions are “coerced, unwanted or inconsistent with women’s preferences.”
A recent national poll found that 69% of respondents across the political spectrum agreed that “it makes sense for the FDA to bring back” the requirement for in-person doctors’ visits removed under the Biden administration.
Despite the severe risks, chemical abortions account for an estimated 63% of legal abortions in 2023. The rate today is thought to be even higher.
