Congress moves to strip FDA approval from abortion pill, eliminating access overnight
H.R. 795 — Pregnancy Is Not an Illness Act of 2025 · Filed by Mary Miller (R-IL) · 11 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 28, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits the FDA from approving or maintaining abortion drugs (including mifepristone, the most common medication used for abortion) by treating pregnancy as a medical condition. It retroactively nullifies the FDA's existing approval of mifepristone and any other abortion drug whose approval relied on classifying pregnancy as an illness. The practical effect is to remove medication abortion from the market by invalidating its regulatory foundation.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a retroactive nullification of FDA drug approvals based on a redefinition of how pregnancy may be classified in regulatory review. Its functional effect is to eliminate a category of medical treatment from the market.
What the text implies
- Retroactive nullification of an existing FDA approval sets a precedent for Congress to override agency decisions by legislative fiat, potentially destabilizing the regulatory framework for all approved drugs.
- The bill does not define 'treating pregnancy as an illness' — it is unclear whether this bars consideration of pregnancy-related health risks (gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, etc.) in any drug approval, or only abortion drugs.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
surgical abortion providers (increased demand for surgical procedures); out-of-state abortion clinics (increased travel demand); pharmaceutical companies producing alternative abortion methods if developed