Hawley refers abortion-pill group Plan C to DOJ for criminal investigation

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has referred abortion-pill organization Plan C to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation, alleging that the group helps coordinate an international operation mailing abortion drugs into states where locally enacted pro-life laws forbid their distribution.

In a letter dated July 17 and made public Monday, July 20, Hawley asked Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to investigate Plan C, its relationships with abortion-drug manufacturers, and the foreign clinics and online sellers promoted through its website. Fox News Digital first reported the referral.

CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky commended Hawley’s action in a statement to Zeale News.

“Senator Hawley deserves praise for further exposing what we already know,” McClusky said. “Those pushing the abortion drug don't do it to protect women, just the opposite: they do it because they love abortion. It is two years past time that the Trump administration hold these lawbreakers accountable.”

Hawley described Plan C as a “left-wing dark-money operation” that presents itself as a public-health information campaign but serves in practice as a “referral and logistics hub” for shipping abortion drugs into states whose laws prohibit it.

According to Hawley’s referral, Plan C directs residents of Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas to foreign clinics that mail the deadly drug mifepristone into the U.S. despite state restrictions. He also alleged that the organization points users toward websites selling abortion drugs without prescriptions, identification, or medical consultations.

Plan C acknowledges that pills sold by some listed websites are “not regulated or inspected by the US government,” Hawley noted. Its website also provides advice on limiting a user’s “digital footprint,” including the use of privacy-focused browsers, virtual private networks, and encrypted email, and warns that obtaining drugs from some listed services may be legally risky.

Hawley further accused the organization of directing women to providers willing to prescribe or supply abortion pills through 14 weeks of pregnancy. The Food and Drug Administration has approved mifepristone, used with misoprostol, to abort unborn babies – but only through 10 weeks’ gestation.

The senator argued that the alleged conduct could violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act’s restrictions on unapproved and misbranded prescription drugs, federal anti-smuggling law, and criminal statutes covering conspiracy and aiding and abetting.

Hawley also pointed to connections between Plan C and abortion-drug manufacturers. Danco Laboratories, which manufactures the brand-name drug Mifeprex, lists Plan C among its resources for locating a provider. Hawley wrote that he believes generic manufacturer GenBioPro has a similar referral relationship and asked the Justice Department to investigate possible financial ties.

Plan C describes itself as merely a nonprofit “information resource” that researches how people obtain abortion pills online. The group says it does not sell abortion drugs, provide medical or legal advice, endorse the services in its online guide, or maintain affiliations with them. Hawley contends that its listings and guidance go beyond neutral information and facilitate violations of state and federal law.

Abortion drugs now account for most abortions in the U.S. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion research organization, found that medication abortions accounted for 63% of all abortions in the formal U.S. health care system in 2023, up from 53% in 2020.

The standard regimen uses mifepristone to block progesterone, causing the unborn child’s death, followed by misoprostol to induce contractions and expel the child’s remains.

The referral comes amid sustained pressure from CatholicVote and other pro-life organizations for the Trump administration to reverse Biden-era policies that expanded telehealth prescriptions and mail-order distribution of mifepristone.

In February, CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt publicly urged Trump to rescind the telehealth expansion, warning that chemical abortion had become “the front line of the abortion industry.” CatholicVote has also criticized the Trump Justice Department for moving to delay or dismiss state lawsuits seeking to restore in-person safeguards for abortion drugs.

As Zeale News previously reported, McClusky said in May that retaining mifepristone with few limitations “leads to death and injury for mothers and their children.” He argued that meaningful change would have to come from higher levels of the administration.

The FDA is conducting a safety review of mifepristone, but the administration has indicated that the process could take a year or more. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court in May allowed telehealth prescriptions and mail delivery to continue while a Louisiana-led challenge to the federal rules proceeds.

Hawley told Blanche that the alleged effort to undermine state laws “at the expense of women’s health” deserves “the closest scrutiny.” The Justice Department had not publicly announced by Monday whether it would open the requested investigation.