WASHINGTON, D.C. (BP) — Forty Southern Baptist state executives, officers and public policy leaders have signed on to a letter encouraging President Trump’s “immediate action” in stopping the mail-order distribution of the abortifacient mifepristone.
The letter, sent on July 28, points out that over 60% of U.S. abortions come about through the use of mifepristone, which can be mailed to those living in pro-life states. In 2017, 39% of abortions came from pills. That figure jumped to 53% in 2020 as Covid shutdowns pushed the usage of telehealth options. A year after the 2022 Dobbs decision, medical abortions had risen to 63% of all cases.
The letter is also signed by Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.
“While the number of abortions briefly declined following the Dobbs decision, overall abortion rates have since increased, driven largely by the previous administration’s lax policies on mifepristone and the expansion of mail-order access, which remain in place,” it read. “Shield laws in pro-abortion states now protect providers who illegally ship mifepristone into prolife states, in direct violation of federal law and the spirit of Dobbs.”
The signers said they were “deeply grateful” for the president’s “unwavering defense of the unborn” during his first term. Now, they request three steps:
- Restore and strengthen Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety protocols for Mifepristone, including ultrasound requirements.
- Direct the FDA to reevaluate the drug’s approval.
- Instruct the Department of Justice to enforce the Comstock Act to protect the rights of states’ pro-life laws.
The Comstock Act was established in 1873 and banned the mailing of obscene materials as well as “every article or thing designed … for producing abortion[s].”
The Biden administration chose to interpret the Act as narrowly as possible, allowing the use of abortions through the mail to expand, reported The Washington Stand. The letter itself pointed to “abortionist Margaret Carpenter, who shipped abortion pills to Louisiana and Texas, [and] illustrates this growing threat. Yet governors like New York’s Kathy Hochul refuse extradition and enact new laws to further shield violators.”
Pro-life advocates say the adverse effects of Mifepristone are grossly underreported. A report in April stated that the number of women suffering adverse reactions could be as much as 22 times higher than previously revealed.
Southern Baptists responded to that news, too.
“[W]hat we now know is that the abortion rights movement was using a very small sample of outdated information and was pressing politically on the powers that be, especially after the Dobbs decision, to legalize medication abortion, the abortion pill, out of the declaration that the nation faced an abortion and health care emergency,” said Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler on the findings by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, based in Washington, D.C.
Mifepristone was first approved by the FDA in 2000.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.)
