Following the approval of the drug Mifepristone by the US federal government, anti-choice groups are mobilizing to restrict its use through new state laws. In interviews legislative directors of anti-choice groups said they were examining whether measures could be drawn to include Mifepristone in existing legislation. These laws require parental consent and waiting periods for abortions and prohibit public funding of abortions and abortion counseling by state employees.
Some states require a physician to examine fetal tissue after an abortion.
Abortion opponents said those states could technically force women to collect the product of drug-induced abortion and take them to a doctor's office. This would, they say, deter the use of the drug. 439 bills to restrict abortions were introduced in state legislatures last year alone and 70 were enacted in 34 states according to the New York-based national Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. Most of the drug's opponents concede there is little likelihood of a full-scale ban because the states lack the authority to override the Food and Drug Administration's ruling.