A new Americans United for Life/YouGov poll finds that 68% of Americans believe a patient’s safety should take priority over ease of access in decisions for how mifepristone (the abortion pill) is dispensed.

The survey, conducted among 1,000 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5% , comes a little over three years after the Biden administration eliminated the in-person dispensing requirement of the abortion pill. Since then, women have increasingly turned to remote doctors’ appointments and ship-to-home delivery of the prescription drug. Chemical abortions are now the most common type of abortion in the United States.

Pro-life supporters argue that the rise in the elimination of in-person dispensing requirements weaken informed consent, violate the Comstock Act, and open the door for abusers to exploit the prescription drug. The poll reveals what Americans believe and know about mifepristone’s safety and ease of access.

Eighty-six percent of Americans believe mothers should receive informed consent before being prescribed the abortion pill.

“When the Biden administration removed in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone, they removed any guarantee that women receive informed consent,” said John Mize, CEO of Americans United for Life, in a press release. “Americans predominantly agree that safety and informed consent should be the highest priority, and now we have the polling to show that the abortion pill is no exception.”

In a recent Charlotte Lozier Institute study, women who had chemical abortions shared experiences of inadequate informed consent. Almost half of the participants wanted more information about the pain they would experience with a chemical abortion than was given in the informed consent process.

One study participant recounted her ship-to-home abortion pill experience as: “They got back to me less than 24 hours later. I sent them a picture of my ultrasound because they wanted that, and they also asked for my photo ID and my address to send the pills. That was kind of scary, because I knew this wasn’t 100% legal. But I sent everything in an email, paid the $90 for the pills, and then sent the prescription to the pharmacy in India.”

AUL/YouGov’s survey found varied views on shipping the abortion pill between states where abortion is and is not legal. Forty percent said yes, 35% said no, and 24% were unsure.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the shipment of mifepristone. Louisiana’s active lawsuit against the FDA argues that the agency violates the state’s sovereignty and the Comstock Act, an 1873 anti-obscenity law prohibiting the mailing of any medication used for abortion, by allowing the shipment of the abortion pill into its state.

Mifepristone manufacturers appealed the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that allowed Louisiana to pause the shipment of the abortion pill into its state to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ultimately reversed the lower court’s ruling.

In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas cited the Comstock Act, writing, “… [A]s Louisiana argued below, it is a criminal offense to ship mifepristone for use in abortions. The Comstock Act bans using ‘the mails’ to ship any ‘drug … for producing abortion.’”

A federal judge upheld mail-order access to the abortion. Litigation is paused pending the FDA’s completion of its safety review of mifepristone.

The agency recently announced the launch of a new phase of the safety review, with interim results to be released as early as July. This comes after more than a year of delays since former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary pledged to conduct the study.

Abortion advocates claim the FDA’s review is politically charged and unnecessary.

“The FDA’s review is a politically motivated farce. Mifepristone is safe and effective,” claims Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “We know it, the FDA knows it, and the more than 7.5 million people who’ve used mifepristone for abortion and miscarriage care over the past 25 years know it too.”

Human dignity advocates see the safety review and the Comstock Act as necessary government oversight to protect Americans. “Combining enforcement of the Comstock Act with completed FDA review is the strongest approach to protecting women and children from the abortion pill,” emphasized Mize.

These concerns are not abstract. The FDA safety review could also end the alarming increase in men fraudulently ordering the abortion pill to drug unsuspecting mothers.

Consider mothers like the 17-year-old in Louisiana who delivered her 23-week-old baby via emergency C-section last month. Her father was arrested for allegedly drugging her without her knowledge and attempting fetal homicide. As of last week, the child, born at just one pound, was still alive.

In a press release, Sarah Zagorski, senior director of Public Relations and Communications at AUL noted, “Since the Dobbsdecision, abortion advocates have tried to convince women that access matters more than our own safety. We still have a long way to go in educating the public on the disconnect between their beliefs and the policies that continue to leave women vulnerable.

AUL/YouGov’s poll found that four in 10 Americans are unclear if the abortion pill is safe. Forty-one percent chose Don’t Know/Not Sure when asked how safe they believed mifepristone to be. The next highest response was Very Unsafe at 11%.

When given information from a 2025 study reporting that 11% of women who took the abortion pill experienced serious complications like sepsis, the majority — 67% — said the drug should have stronger safeguards.

The poll results reveal that over a third of Americans have never heard of mifepristone or medication abortion. Mize pointed out, “The abortion industry thrives on the public’s confusion regarding the reality of medication abortion. Many Americans hear the phrase ‘abortion pill’ and do not understand the details of the regimen prescribed to women, or simply confuse it with Plan B.”

“Our polling made it clear we were not talking about the ‘morning after pill,’” said Mize, “We clearly still have work to do to educate the public. If Americans haven’t heard of mifepristone, how can they fully understand its dangers?”

Maryland’s policies offer a clear example of the disconnect. In 2025, Governor Wes Moore (D) signed a voter-backed proclamation that enshrined abortion rights into the state’s constitution.

Jeffrey S. Trimbath, president of the Maryland Family Institute, told The Washington Stand that the poll highlights the opportunity pro-life organizations like his have to close the gap between the public’s knowledge and state abortion policies in places like Maryland. “The poll shows we have a lot of work to do in educating our fellow Marylanders, even those who may be pro-choice on abortion, about the radical nature of what the Democratic Party wants to implement in this country and in this state,” said Trimbath.

He added, “It shows that the majority of Americans are really in favor of common-sense restrictions on abortions and particularly the abortion pill. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party will have none of that.”

Rosalind Hanson is a contributor for The Washington Stand.