WASHINGTON, D.C. — A peer-reviewed study published July 20 found “significant” concentrations of the chemical abortion drug mifepristone in the water supply of three U.S. cities. Environmental and medical researchers found levels up to 0.041 micrograms per liter (41 parts per trillion) of active mifepristone compounds in the environmental waters in Austin, Texas; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Carbondale, Illinois. Mifepristone levels up to 0.039 micrograms per liter (39 parts per trillion) were found in the drinking water.

The researchers collected water samples from household taps, as well as samples from both upstream and downstream of water treatment facilities. They analyzed the water using the PR CALUX® bioassay, a laboratory test used to measure the biological effect of a substance, finding mifepristone contaminants in “all but one of the nine sampling classes.”

The study, “Anti-Progesterone in Environmental Water,” appeared in Issues in Law & Medicine, a Journal of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. The study was funded by Charitable Allies, Inc. The pro-life organization Students for Life of America stated the study was inspired by its advocacy for clean water.

With hundreds of thousands of abortions taking place at home annually, Liberty Counsel Action (LCA) has also raised concerns about active metabolites from mifepristone—known to act as “endocrine disruptors”—being flushed into the nation's water systems where they may not be filtered out by conventional wastewater treatment plants. Drinking water treatment plants are likewise not designed to fully remove this class of contaminants.

As demonstrated by the study, conventional water treatment “was not effective for removing” mifepristone’s endocrine disrupting compound (EDC) from the water in all the cities the researchers tested. 

“In all 3 cities, the level of mifepristone in the downstream water sources is not appreciably lower than the level in upstream water sources; in fact, in two of the cities it is higher,” reads the study. While the researchers noted that upstream samples could contain untreated sewage from damaged sewer lines, the downstream samples were expected to have treated sewage water.

“At any rate, water treatment was not effective for removing this EDC,” wrote the researchers.

Given the data indicating there were 642,700 chemical abortions in the U.S. in 2023, the authors attributed the most probable source of mifepristone in the water from “fecal and urinary excretion by women ingesting mifepristone for chemical abortion.”

The authors stated that mifepristone’s EDC could negatively impact health in humans, wildlife, farm animals, and aquatic life, such as fertility, pregnancy, and fetal development. The study noted that low progesterone levels in both women and men have been associated with multiple health problems. For women, these health problems can include lower fertility rates, higher rates of miscarriage, and higher rates of other medical complications during pregnancy 

“Mifepristone could even inhibit some actions of progesterone on men, who normally have small amounts of progesterone in their bodies,” reads the study. “Low progesterone levels in men have been associated with multiple medical problems including alopecia, bone loss, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, and obesity.”

While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set enforceable water contaminant levels for certain other EDCs at four parts per trillion, the study showed the mifepristone compounds were found in drinking water at levels as high as 39 parts per trillion.

The authors concluded that concerns about mifepristone compounds in the water “raise urgent questions about the lack of meaningful regulation of this widely-used pharmaceutical,” and advocated for additional research and investigation into mifepristone’s effects and the efficacy of water treatment plants in removing its compounds.

LCA has previously urged the EPA to list mifepristone on its drinking water contamination list for monitoring and evaluation.

Liberty Counsel Action President John Stemberger said, “This ground-breaking study shows that chemical abortion drugs are present in U.S. drinking water. This pioneering testing effort, inspired by Students for Life of America, is a critical step in advocating for the EPA to add mifepristone to its contaminant list and evaluate it under the Safe Water Drinking Act, as well as for informing the FDA in its ongoing mifepristone safety review. The concerns about mifepristone’s endocrine disrupting compounds in our drinking water are valid and the government needs to properly evaluate mifepristone’s environmental and public health implications.”

For more information on LCA’s Abortion in Our Water Initiative and other accessible resources please visit AbortionInOurWater.org.

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