III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 510 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the scientific judgment of the Food 

and Drug Administration that mifepristone is safe and effective should 

be respected, and law and policy governing access to lifesaving, timesensitive medication abortion care in the United States should be equitable and based on science. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SCHUMER, 

Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BROWN, 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. BENNET, Ms. DUCKWORTH, 

Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. KING, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. FETTERMAN, Ms. BUTLER, Mr. REED, Mr. CARPER, Ms. 

CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. WELCH, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. SINEMA, 

Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Mr. KELLY, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

WARNOCK, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, 

Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the scientific judgment of the Food and Drug Administration that 

mifepristone is safe and effective should be respected, 

and law and policy governing access to lifesaving, timesensitive medication abortion care in the United States 

should be equitable and based on science. 

2 

•SRES 510 IS 

Whereas Congress, by enacting the Federal Food, Drug, and 

Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.), authorized the 

Food and Drug Administration (referred to in this preamble as the ‘‘FDA’’) to determine, based on the scientific expertise of the FDA, whether a drug is safe and 

effective for the intended use of the drug; 

Whereas mifepristone is a medication that can be used to terminate a pregnancy; 

Whereas mifepristone received approval from the FDA more 

than 20 years ago, and according to the FDA, the ‘‘efficacy and safety [of mifepristone] have become well-established by both research and experience, and serious complications have proven to be extremely rare’’; 

Whereas the FDA approved mifepristone following a rigorous 

54-month review period that included the review of 3 

complete phases of clinical trials that involved thousands 

of participants and whose data showed that mifepristone 

was safe and effective for termination of an early pregnancy; 

Whereas, in January 2023, after extensive evidence-based review, the FDA approved a modification to the 

Mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy 

that removed the in-person dispensing requirement and 

added a pharmacy certification requirement, allowing 

Mifeprex and its approved generic mifepristone, 

Mifepristone Tablets, 200mg, to be dispensed by certified 

pharmacies, both in-person and by mail, as well as by or 

under the supervision of certified prescribers; 

Whereas the FDA relied on overwhelming evidence that medication abortion using mifepristone is a safe and effective 

method to end a pregnancy; 

3 

•SRES 510 IS 

Whereas leading medical and scientific organizations, including the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians 

and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Family 

Physicians, recognize that mifepristone is safe and effective and continue to recommend the availability of 

mifepristone for use in obstetric care; 

Whereas the importance of medication abortion is recognized 

globally, and the World Health Organization has included 

mifepristone on its list of essential medicines since 2005; 

Whereas the safety record of mifepristone is demonstrated by 

its availability in more than 90 countries, including countries without restrictions such as the FDA risk evaluation 

and mitigation strategy requirement; 

Whereas medication abortion accounted for more than half of 

all abortions in the United States in 2021; 

Whereas following the decision of the Supreme Court of the 

United States in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022), to overturn decades 

of precedent in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and 

Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), several States moved to further restrict access to abortion 

care, compounding an already complex landscape and exacerbating the existing abortion access crisis; 

Whereas, as of December 13, 2023, 17 States have filed bills 

with antimedication abortion provisions, and multiple 

States, including Florida, North Carolina, and Wyoming, 

have enacted restrictions on medication abortion; 

Whereas mere months after the decision of the Supreme 

Court of the United States to overturn Roe v. Wade, 410 

U.S. 113 (1973), and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 

4 

•SRES 510 IS 

U.S. 833 (1992), in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health 

Organization, 142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022), antiabortion 

groups have filed baseless claims against the FDA over 

the approval of mifepristone, in an attempt to remove 

mifepristone from the market; 

Whereas the impact to the health and well-being of patients 

across the country would be devastating if mifepristone 

were taken off the market; 

Whereas abortion bans and restrictions force patients to travel greater distances for care and face longer wait times, 

and force some patients who are unable to access care to 

remain pregnant against their will; 

Whereas, if mifepristone is taken off the market, providers 

may be prevented from treating pregnancy loss using 

mifepristone, and abortion providers and health care centers may be stretched impossibly thin and be unable to 

keep up with the demand of patients who need abortion 

care; and 

Whereas, due to discrimination, unnecessary restrictions on 

abortion, including medication abortion, disproportionately push care out of reach for— 

(1) Black and Indigenous people; 

(2) people of color; 

(3) immigrants; 

(4) people with lower incomes; 

(5) people in rural communities; 

(6) LGBTQ+ people; 

(7) people living with disabilities; and 

(8) other pregnant people who have been disproportionately harmed by systemic inequities in health care: 

Now, therefore, be it 

5 

•SRES 510 IS 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) policies governing access to medication 

3 abortion care in the United States should be ground4 ed in science and based on scientific review by the 

5 Food and Drug Administration of available medical 

6 evidence; 

7 (2) Congress has granted the Food and Drug 

8 Administration the authority to conduct pre-market 

9 approvals and post-market reviews of prescription 

10 drug medications and medical devices based on sci11 entific determinations of their safety and efficacy, 

12 and without interference from other branches of gov13 ernment at the Federal, State, and local levels; 

14 (3) the Food and Drug Administration has per15 formed scientific reviews of mifepristone, and in the 

16 2000 approval and subsequent regulatory actions in 

17 2011, 2016, 2019, and 2023, the Food and Drug 

18 Administration found mifepristone to be safe and ef19 fective for women seeking abortions; and 

20 (4) medication abortion is an important method 

21 to ensure equitable access to abortion for patients 

22 harmed by statutory, regulatory, financial, and cir23 cumstantial restrictions that have worsened repro24 ductive health disparities for— 

25 (A) Black and Indigenous people; 

6 

•SRES 510 IS 

1 (B) people of color; 

2 (C) immigrants; 

3 (D) people with lower incomes; 

4 (E) people in rural communities; 

5 (F) LGBTQ+ people; 

6 (G) people living with disabilities; and 

7 (H) people in other marginalized commu8 nities. 

Æ