WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, Liberty Counsel Action (LCA) presented both written and oral commentary to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) urging it to formally monitor the abortion drug mifepristone in U.S. drinking water systems.

The SAB held a public meeting Monday in its ongoing process to update a water contaminant list with new compounds that present potential for harm for monitoring and evaluation. LCA’s commentary follows its previous 2026 comments to the EPA in May, June, and August continuing to urge the agency to add mifepristone and its active metabolites to the Sixth Contaminant Candidate List and the Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. The list and rule are regulatory tools under the Safe Drinking Water Act that identify contaminants of concern that are not yet subject to any water protection regulations.

LCA Public Policy Analyst Abigail Forman was the only commenter at the October 19 meeting to orally recommend the EPA begin monitoring mifepristone. Together with the written commentary, LCA told the EPA:

• Mifepristone and its metabolites are entering our lakes, streams, and other water bodies, more than likely entering our drinking water due to the 700,000 annual at-home chemical abortions and inability of wastewater treatment plants to filter out these compounds.
• A recent study has detected mifepristone-equivalent compounds in the environmental and tap waters of several U.S. cities.
• Mifepristone blocks progesterone and is characterized as an endocrine disruptor, which raises concerns about possible effects on human health and fertility as well as wildlife.
• The past FDA environmental review was inadequate and did not fully examine the impacts of increased use of the drug and the medical waste it produces on wastewater systems.
• Current testing methods are feasible to monitor mifepristone and could help determine actual concentrations and risks.

“Mifepristone is the only drug on the market that was both designed and then approved by the FDA to be lethal in nature,” said Forman. “It is the only FDA approved drug that generates human remains and medical waste. Unlike abortions in a clinic or hospital, those human remains and medical waste are then flushed into our public water systems.  As uncomfortable as these truths are, it is vital that the independent environmental experts advising the EPA are aware that these same active abortion pill chemicals are infiltrating our water. I was grateful and humbled by the opportunity to ensure that those informing EPA decision-making know: Abortion pill pollution requires heightened scrutiny.”

LCA concluded its commentary by recommending the EPA prioritize mifepristone and its three primary active metabolites for inclusion on its water contaminant monitoring list.

Since launching its Abortion in Our Water initiative in 2025, LCA has undertaken a sustained campaign to bring this issue before federal policymakers. LCA representatives have met with EPA officials, senior FDA officials and staff, White House officials, and Members of Congress to urge federal investigation of the environmental and public-health consequences associated with the dramatic growth of at-home chemical abortions. This request is all consistent with President Donald Trump’s promise to have crystal clean drinking water, as well as the administration’s commitment to use gold standard research in the FDA’s ongoing safety review of mifepristone due to be completed in March 2027.

Liberty Counsel Action President John Stemberger said, “We have been engaging the federal government for more than a year on the question of what happens when these abortion drug compounds from hundreds of thousands of at-home chemical abortions enter our wastewater systems. Our water needs to be monitored and evaluated for mifepristone and its active metabolites. Transparency, rigorous testing, and evidence-based decision making are essential to protecting our water quality and the people and wildlife who depend on it.”

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