Study Finds Abortion Pill Traces in U.S. Tap Water

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A peer-reviewed study published July 20 has detected significant levels of anti-progesterone activity equivalent to the abortion drug mifepristone in environmental water and municipal tap water samples from three U.S. cities, leading pro-life advocates to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to expand monitoring and protect public health.

The study, “Anti-Progesterone in Environmental Water,” appeared in Issues in Law & Medicine. Researchers collected samples upstream and downstream of water treatment facilities, as well as from household taps, in Austin, Texas; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Carbondale, Illinois. Using the PR CALUX® bioassay, they found levels of mifepristone up to 0.041 micrograms per liter (41 parts per trillion) in all but one of the nine sampling categories. Conventional water treatment did not consistently remove the compound.

“A study inspired by Students for Life’s clean water advocacy shows that our concerns are valid,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America. “In three cities where water was tested, the active metabolites of mifepristone, the Chemical Abortion Pill, were in the water. We need the EPA to nationalize this examination, especially in light of so many struggling with infertility. You don’t have to be pro-life to want crystal clear drinking water.”

Hawkins added: “Not only does this show that we were right all along — some of us are drinking other people’s abortions — but it also shows the EPA that there is a test for mifepristone, as that is one of the criteria the agency considers when adding something to a tracking list.” Students for Life submitted the study to the EPA shortly after its online publication for review by an advisory committee.

Mifepristone, the first drug in the two-drug abortion regimen, functions as a progesterone antagonist and is recognized as an endocrine-disrupting compound. Abortion pill abortions accounted for 642,700 procedures in the United States in 2023, or 63% of the total, according to data cited in the study.

Pro-life groups have long raised concerns that metabolites excreted after use can enter wastewater systems and persist in the environment.

Lead researcher Elise Rose, Ph.D., who holds degrees from Georgetown University and Howard University and a doctorate in agronomy and environmental plant physiology from Kansas State University, stated: “Because of the importance of progesterone for human and animal health, the presence of anti-progesterone in environmental and tap water poses potential health risks. Everyone should be concerned that we are possibly being exposed to an endocrine-disrupting compound without our consent.”

The study co-author is Michael Varveris, M.D.

Tina Whittington, executive vice president of Students for Life of America, who helped drive the testing effort, said: “We were told we had to prove mifepristone was in the water in the U.S. to get anyone to care. On our own we started to reach out to water testing companies only to have our business declined. Our frustration became inspiration for this group to find the path to test our drinking water and while we have been vindicated, I hope the larger response is urgency to clean up our water. The harm to endangered species and potentially the human harm is incalculable.”

The findings come as the EPA evaluates whether to place mifepristone on its Contaminant Candidate List under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Fourteen state attorneys general and 19 members of Congress have called on the agency to track the drug, citing potential risks to aquatic life, human fertility, pregnancy, and fetal development. More than 40 pro-family groups and professional organizations, including the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have supported expanded monitoring.

Pro-life advocates note that the detected levels reach up to 41 parts per trillion, exceeding the 4.0 parts per trillion enforceable maximum contaminant level the EPA previously set for certain forever chemicals. They argue the results underscore the need for further investigation into endocrine-disrupting compounds in water sources and stronger safeguards against chemical abortion pollution.