Senate Pro-Life Caucus Chair Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., reintroduced legislation Jan. 27 aimed at restoring stricter safety standards for chemical abortion drugs that were loosened under the Biden administration.
The Support and Value Expectant (SAVE) Moms and Babies Act, S.3697, would require abortion drugs to be dispensed in person by a medical professional, prohibit their distribution through mail or via telemedicine, and expand requirements for reporting complications related to their use. Thirty Republicans are co-sponsoring the bill.
As Zeale News has reported, the Biden administration in 2023 loosened longstanding safeguards for chemical abortion drugs, allowing them to be prescribed via telemedicine and shipped by mail. Pro-life advocates have warned that such access increases the risk of medical complications and enables abuse, citing cases in which women have allegedly been drugged by partners without their knowledge.
The bill’s reintroduction comes just days after the annual March for Life rally, held Jan. 23, which Hyde-Smith pointed to as evidence of the sustained momentum of the pro-life movement in the post-Roe v. Wade landscape.
“The fact that the March for Life has endured for 53 years speaks volumes about our nation’s heart and soul,” she said in a Jan. 27 press release. “Deep down, we know that protecting those who cannot defend themselves is the foundation for every meaningful cause in today’s society.”
She said the SAVE Moms and Babies Act reflects that conviction and emphasized the bill’s focus on protecting both mothers and unborn children.
The Mississippi senator also pointed to growing concerns about how manufacturers describe chemical abortion drugs. She noted that they are “often marketed as safer than common over-the-counter pain relievers, but that claim has proven tragically false for many women.”
“Chemical abortions are not safe,” Hyde-Smith added, “and at minimum, women deserve real medical oversight and the opportunity to see a doctor face-to-face.”
Her warnings follow the release of a widely cited April 2025 study, which found that nearly 11% of women suffered serious or life-threatening complications — including hemorrhage, infection, and sepsis — within 45 days of a mifepristone abortion. The drug is used in chemical abortions and accounts for more than half of all abortions in the U.S.
In addition to reinstating in-person dispensing requirements, the bill would also bar the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving new abortion drugs or further relaxing regulations on existing ones, requiring them to meet the same risk standards as other high-risk medications.
The FDA in 2025 launched a new safety review of mifepristone that will reportedly include examining adverse event reporting, dispensing requirements, and mail-order access. As Zeale News reported Jan. 28, administration officials have said the review could take a year or more to complete.
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