Biden's removal of in-person requirements made abortion pills more dangerous; Trump should restore safety regulations
Source: Ryan T. Anderson and Jamie Bryan Hall. "Biden Made Abortion Pills More Dangerous, But Trump Can Fix It." March 10, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The authors argue that when Biden removed the requirement for women to see a doctor in person before getting abortion pills, it made the procedure more dangerous. They want Trump to bring back the in-person requirement to protect women's safety.
Conclusion
The Trump administration should reinstate the FDA requirement for in-person doctor visits before prescribing mifepristone abortion pills
Premises
- Data shows serious adverse events from mifepristone increased from 10.15% to 11.50% after Biden's FDA removed the in-person visit requirement
- Ectopic pregnancy misdiagnosis rates increased by over 50% (from 0.27% to 0.41%) when remote prescribing was allowed
- In-person visits are necessary to determine pregnancy age, rule out ectopic pregnancy, and prevent coercion
- Remote dispensing allows anyone to order abortion pills online, enabling coercive poisoning by boyfriends and bypassing state abortion laws
- Polling shows 70% of voters support requiring in-person doctor visits for mifepristone prescriptions
- Restoring in-person requirements would fulfill Trump's three campaign promises: Make America Healthy Again, undo Biden policies, and leave abortion to the states
Assumptions
- The correlation between policy changes and adverse event rates indicates causation
- In-person medical visits are inherently safer than telemedicine for abortion pill prescriptions
- The reported adverse event data is accurate and complete
- State abortion laws should be enforceable and not circumventable through interstate commerce
- Public polling accurately reflects what policy should be implemented