Chair Cassidy Leads Hearing with Louisiana AG Murrill on Protecting Women Against Dangerous Abortion Drugs

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, led a hearing on protecting women and unborn children from dangerous chemical abortion drugs. This is the first HELP hearing in 2026 and the first pro-life hearing of any committee this Congress.

"Scientifically and morally, there is no difference in the value of a child whether she is in her mother's arms, or she is in her mother's womb," said Dr. Cassidy. "We'll hear testimony today about the dangers of mifepristone, the chemical abortion drug. Now, these drugs are not safe, run-of-the mill drugs. They are certainly not safe for the unborn child, but there can also be potential complications for the mother."

Cassidy was joined at the hearing by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who testified on the dangers of mail-ordered abortion drugs, sharing real life stories of women and girls coerced or drugged with the abortion pill.

"A few examples from Louisiana include a woman who was coerced to abort her wanted baby. Multiple elements of that by partners or parents," said Attorney General Murrill. "A pregnant woman who took pills that Margaret Carpenter from New York mailed to her at 20 weeks' gestation and ended up in the emergency room while her baby was left in a dumpster. Another 20-week-old pregnancy. The baby was found recovered in a toilet."

"Activists have created an organized and dangerous scheme of drug dealing protected by politicians," continued Attorney General Murrill. "These are not medical standards. There are no medical standards in any state that sanction such irresponsible actions by a medical professional. And political preferences do not justify placing women at such medical risk."

Cassidy and his Republican colleagues shared the devastating consequences of chemical abortion drugs, calling on Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary to fulfill their promise to complete a safety review of mifepristone.

Click here to watch Cassidy's opening statement.

Click here to watch the full hearing.

Cassidy's Speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order.

I'm a doctor. I took an oath to protect my patients. But when someone is pregnant, you have two patients. Both must be considered with absolute care and concern.

Scientifically and morally, there is no difference in the value of a child whether she is in her mother's arms or her mother's womb.

The science is clear. A child's life begins at conception. Abortion ends that life.

We must not dehumanize the conversation or normalize abortion. We cannot normalize a procedure where the intent is to end a human life.

I want to highlight the March for Life next week in DC and around the country. For decades every January, thousands of Americans, young and old, begin the new year by joining together to march and peacefully call attention to sanctity and inherent value of every single life.

To those who will march in the weeks ahead, thank you. We are here to represent your passion and your action to protect women and unborn children.

We will hear testimony today about the dangers of mifepristone, the chemical abortion drug.

Chemical abortion drugs are not safe, run-of-the mill drugs. They are certainly not safe for the unborn baby and as we all know, there are potential serious complications for the mother too.

Here are the facts.

One study showed that 9 in 10 women who take a chemical abortion drug describe their pain as moderate to severe. And half of women say the experience was worse than expected. Another study found that one in ten women taking mifepristone experienced serious adverse events, including hemorrhaging, sepsis, or infection.

This is not just about statistics. It is about real women with real stories.

A woman named Salome described feeling like her insides were being "torn and sliced apart" and seeing "blood all over my legs." Like many, Salome regretted her abortion, saying "I saw the most heartbreaking thing that I've seen in my entire life - I saw my child. It was at that moment that it sunk in properly that I really had been pregnant. I had been carrying the life that I created inside of me until that very moment. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. It was the most beautiful thing that I'd ever created and I destroyed it."

Another woman named Shanyce described the cramps as "unbearable" saying that it "felt like somebody was stabbing me in my stomach." Shanyce ended up going into sepsis because the abortion drugs left some of the unborn child's remains inside her. After two months' hospitalization and a partial hysterectomy, she had to re-learn to walk and perform normal everyday activities.

How did we get here, to the point that abortion pills can be ordered online, mailed, and taken with no medical supervision or safeguards against coercion?

It started when the Obama administration's FDA, pursuing an agenda, removed requirements to report non-fatal adverse events, effectively no longer monitoring the drug's safety. Who could be opposed to making sure that a drug's adverse events are reported to FDA?

We make so much out of someone getting a vaccine and getting a sore arm, but we're not reporting when someone has sepsis?

Then, the Biden administration removed the in-person dispensing requirement, which protected women having abortions from serious medical complications. It's only through a proper medical examination that a doctor can determine a baby's gestational age, ensure a woman does not have an ectopic pregnancy, and be sure the abortion will not jeopardize future fertility.

I'm a doctor, and if the first rule is do no harm, the way things work today has the potential to do a lot of harm.

The in-person requirement also meant a medical professional, trained to spot abuse, protected women from being coerced to take the abortion pill or unknowingly poisoned by her partner with an abortion pill.

Someone who wishes to coerce another can now just order an abortion drug online and it will be delivered straight to their mailbox, no questions asked.

Think of the girls and women in abusive relationships or being trafficked whose voices have been silenced.

I was just in an airplane bathroom, and they had a sign there - call this number if you're being trafficked. We put it in the bathroom of an airplane, but we don't take the opportunity to interview a young woman in a doctor's office. Think about that.

I ask again, how did we get here? How have we done such a disservice to women regarding the truth about chemical abortion?

As Chairman of the HELP Committee, I urge Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makary to complete the safety review of mifepristone that they both promised us during their confirmation hearings. Republican Members of this Committee and many other Senators expect an answer. At an absolute minimum, the previous in-person safeguards must be restored immediately.

And by the way, it's not just Republicans saying this. A recent poll found that 71 percent of Americans, including 67 percent of those who identify as pro-choice, support requiring a doctor's visit for the chemical abortion drug to be prescribed.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill will share more real-life stories of women and girls coerced or drugged with the abortion pill. She is holding those violating our state's strong pro-life laws accountable and working to protect women and girls.

And Dr. Monique Wubbenhorst will provide medical expertise and further insight into the dangers that abortion pills pose to women. She will dispel the false narrative that treatment for miscarriage, stillbirth, and ectopic pregnancy is the same as an abortion.

It's an honor to convene the HELP Committee for our first hearing of the year to discuss such an important topic. Women, families, and unborn children deserve nothing less.

With that, I recognize Ranking Member Sanders.

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