Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is launching investigations into two mifepristone manufacturers that he says profited off the abortion drug despite evidence that it "poses grave risks to women."
Hawley notified the two companies, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, in letters addressed to the heads of the companies that were obtained by Fox News Digital. The letters notify company administrators that he is opening an investigation via the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, which he chairs.
"Mounting evidence suggests that mifepristone poses grave risks to women. Yet your company has continued to profit from the widespread distribution of this drug even as serious questions have emerged about hemorrhage, infection, sepsis, and other dangerous complications associated with its use," Hawley wrote to both companies.
"Congress must determine what your company knew about the harms associated with mifepristone, when it knew it, what it told regulators, and what it may have failed to disclose to women and the public," he added.
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The letters demand that the companies share documents relating to the investigation by April 24.
Those documents include all adverse event reports relating to mifepristone, relevant internal databases and a litany of other documents.
Neither company immediately responded to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The investigation comes roughly a week after Hawley introduced a new bill to strip FDA approval from mifepristone.
The new bill builds upon proposed legislation Hawley introduced last year that would ban mifepristone and allow women to sue manufacturers profiting from what the lawmaker deems an "inherently dangerous" drug.
The Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act was introduced in the Senate Tuesday and would prohibit the use of mifepristone for ending pregnancies.
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"The science is clear: The chemical abortion drug is inherently dangerous to women and prone to abuse. Yet major companies like Danco Laboratories are making billions off it," Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. "That's why I am introducing new legislation to ban the use of mifepristone for abortion and empower women to sue its manufacturers. Congress must act now to protect the health and safety of women."
If passed, the legislation would withdraw FDA approval for the drug and classify its distribution for abortion as a violation of federal law. In 2023, mifepristone was used in 63% of all abortions in the U.S., according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.
The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization formerly affiliated with Planned Parenthood, also estimates there were 1,038,100 clinician-provided abortions in 2024. However, that figure accounts only for states without abortion bans and does not include abortions performed outside the formal healthcare system or in states where abortion laws differ.
Hawley raised concerns about the abortion pill last May when he introduced a separate bill that would direct the FDA to create safeguards on mifepristone, allowing women who suffered complications the right to sue telehealth providers and pharmacies for damages.
Research by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) in Washington, D.C., showed the rate of side effects when using mifepristone is 22 times higher than indications from the FDA-approved drug label.
The study revealed more than one in 10 women have reported experiencing "infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event."
READ THE LETTERS TO DANCO LABS AND GENBIOPRO - APP USERS, CLICK HERE AND HERE:
Fox News' Preston Mizell contributed to this report.
