In a storyline that is becoming all too familiar, a Texas man was arrested this week after surreptitiously giving the mother of his unborn child an abortion drug he apparently obtained through the mail. The baby, which the mother repeatedly said she wanted to carry to term, died.

The day after Rueben Demeter was arrested, the State of Louisiana was in federal court seeking an end to this Biden-era policy that allows abortion drugs to be prescribed remotely and sent through the mail without medical consultation. Louisiana’s Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) filed the suit on behalf of Rosalie Markezich, who was forced to take the abortion drugs by her now ex-boyfriend.

This is not an isolated occurrence. According to documents filed in Louisiana’s case against the FDA, a single telemedicine service reportedly sent 118,338 abortion drug packs between July 2023 and September 2024. Obviously, not all were obtained by male impregnators and forced upon women, but incidents labeled intimate partner violence are widespread. Approximately 324,000 pregnant women were abused last year.

Louisiana is not the only state taking action over the FDA’s abortion pill policy. Missouri, Idaho, Kansas, Florida, and Texas are also seeking to ensure their states can exercise the legislative authority recognized by the Supreme Court in the Dobbs case to protect the unborn and their mothers.

On Tuesday, Noah Katzen, an attorney for the FDA, argued that Louisiana’s attempt at “judicial intervention” would disrupt the agency’s drug review process. When federal judge David Joseph pressed him for a timeline on when the review would be complete, Katzen could have won a gold medal for rhetorical gymnastics. He didn’t answer the question.

And there is a reason.

According to senators who attended a closed-door meeting two weeks ago here in Washington with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary regarding mifepristone, they were told the study design was still being worked on. Keep in mind, lawmakers were told almost a year ago that a study would be conducted after a report revealed that 11% of women who use mifepristone suffered adverse effects.

If women’s lives are in danger and the laws of red states are being abrogated by a Republican administration, why is this not a priority?

Because political consultants and pollsters claim it is a liability to speak up for the unborn. I’ve heard it repeatedly over 30 years in public life. That’s just not true.

In fact, a national poll released last week by Sygnal shows 74% of GOP primary voters say a candidate’s position on abortion is important when deciding whom they support. And when it comes to mifepristone, 80% believe the FDA should require in-person visits. Those numbers are high, but not surprising. Here is the danger: the poll also showed that 32% of Republican voters would be less enthusiastic about voting in November if GOP leaders abandon pro-life policies.

So here is what is at stake. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion has not decreased nationwide — it has increased, driven largely by the widespread distribution of chemical abortion through the mail. The very policy being challenged by the states is the primary engine behind that rise. This is not abstract. It is measurable. And it is preventable.