Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley issued a letter on Monday urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reinstate safety regulations for chemical abortion drugs.

Citing a newly published study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Hawley urged the FDA to act, saying the “health and safety of American women depend on it.”

The study , released this week, found that more than 1 in 10 women who use mifepristone experience adverse side effects including sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or an emergency room visit.

Published on April 28, the study is the “largest known study of mifepristone to date,” according to Hawley. The study found that the rate of negative side effects is “at least 22 times greater” than the adverse effects rate on the drug label, which is approved by the FDA.

In the letter, Hawley noted that Democratic administrations “have stripped away basic safeguards” surrounding the drug. The Obama administration reduced required in-person visits, removed the physicians prescription requirement, and ended mandatory reporting of adverse effects.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, ended requirements for in-person visits and dispensing, meaning that mifepristone can be sent via mail without any medical supervision.

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Hawley urged the FDA to “reinstate safety regulations on the chemical abortion drug immediately.”

Catholic leaders fight assisted suicide as bill progresses in New York state

Catholic leaders in New York are speaking out as an assisted suicide bill, the “Medical Aid in Dying Act,” progresses through the state Legislature this week.

The assisted suicide bill passed the state Assembly on Tuesday. It was the first time such a bill has made it to the floor of either chamber since 2016.

The bill allows anyone 18 or older to request drugs for assisted suicide if they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less and if they retain “decision-making capacity.”

Proponents maintain that there are safeguards against coercion and that the deadly drugs are self-administered.

Robert Bellafiore, a spokesperson for the New York State Catholic Conference, called the bill “state-sanctioned suicide” in a statement this week.

Bellafiore described the measure a “Pandora’s box” that “cannot be controlled,” saying that it works against the governor’s suicide prevention efforts. He also criticized the bill for putting people with mental health issues at risk, arguing that the safeguards are “made of straw.”

“It tells young people, who everyone knows are in the midst of an unprecedented mental health crisis, that life is disposable and that it’s OK to end your life if you see no hope,” Bellafiore said.

Bellafiore called on the state to instead “strengthen palliative care, improve health care services and counseling for people in crisis, and show America what real compassion looks like.”

Local Catholic and pro-life organizations are banding together to oppose the measure.

The bishops of New York wrote a letter last week urging the Legislature to reconsider the policy. The prelates cited concern for the vulnerable, who could be pressured into assisted suicide, as well as concerns about the quick expansion of assisted suicide in Canada.

On May 6, Feminists Choosing Life of New York and the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide will lobby against the legislation. The Diocese of Rochester partnered with the pro-life feminist group as well as the Finger Lakes Guild of the Catholic Medical Association to host a webinar on Thursday on physician-assisted suicide.

Parental notification laws challenged in Missouri, Nevada

A pro-abortion group is suing Missouri over its law requiring parental consent for minors to have abortions.

The Missouri state law requires a minor to receive parental consent from at least one parent to obtain an abortion. Minors may seek an exception in court.

A pro-abortion nonprofit, Right By You, filed the lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court, alleging the notification laws “bully pregnant young people without parental support into giving birth.”

The lawsuit follows the passage of Missouri’s abortion rights amendment last fall.

The advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said on Thursday that the lawsuit could “enable abusers and traffickers to exploit minors.”

“They’re suing so girls who aren’t old enough to get their ears pierced on their own can have an abortion without their parents,” said group spokeswoman Kelsey Pritchard.

A judge in Nevada, meanwhile, has blocked the state’s rule requiring parental notification for minors seeking abortion, a policy that was set to take effect this week.

The 1985 law requiring one parent to be notified if a minor sought an abortion has never been enforced after it was found unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade.

After Roe was overturned, the law was scheduled to be enforced this month. But Planned Parenthood of Nevada challenged the law, calling it “unconstitutionally vague.”

U.S. District Court Judge Anne Traum granted Planned Parenthood’s request to pause the law’s implementation while it files a motion for stay.

About 70% of U.S. states have some form of parental notification or permission laws for minors seeking abortion.