EPA, state lawmakers could consider regulating abortion pills as pollutants in 2026

[LiberalArkie]

DECEMBER 19, 2025 1:12 PM


Going into the fourth year without federal abortion rights protections, groups that helped overturn Roe v. Wade are focused on cutting off access to abortion pills. As multiple lawsuits over the abortion drug mifepristone unfold, state and federal proposals to regulate and restrict medication abortion are expected to continue in 2026. Abortion opponents argue that medication abortion, despite its strong safety record, is dangerous to patients and the environment.

Abortion bans are largely unpopular, but heading into a midterm election year, some lawmakers in states with strict abortion bans have already prefiled bills to add new restrictions. Here’s a look at early legislative trends emerging in abortion-related bills recently introduced or prefiled ahead of the new year.

Over the last few years, the national anti-abortion group Students for Life of America has spread unfounded claims that mifepristone pollutes U.S. waterways and drinking water, drafted model legislation to regulate the disposal of medication abortions, and requested environmental studies at the federal and state level.

In 2025, lawmakers in at least seven states introduced bills to create environmental restrictions for the abortion drug mifepristone or order environmental studies. Bills introduced this year in Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming would have required testing community water systems for traces of mifepristone.

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https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/12/19/repub/epa-state-lawmakers-could-consider-regulating-abortion-pills-as-pollutants-in-2026/

[hlthe2b]

1. So too are Viagra and other ED drugs. So, shall we ban THEM too?

Viagra and similar drugs can enter water systems through wastewater treatment plants, which often fail to fully remove these pharmaceuticals, leading to their accumulation in aquatic environments. This pollution can disrupt ecosystems, affecting the health and reproductive systems of aquatic organisms and potentially contributing to antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and United Nations Environment Programme

[SamKnause]

2. You beat me to it. Thanks.

[NotHardly]

3. These wankers, oh for f*ck sake...I do hate them

[NickB79]

4. ALL hormonal birth control would fall under this umbrella

Because there is solid scientific evidence that human birth control pills do harm aquatic life when exposed to wastewater, going back over 20 years.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/science/human-contraceptive-pill-reduces-fish-fertility-study/articleshow/16465716.cms