{"id":448,"date":"2026-06-15T19:04:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448"},"modified":"2026-06-15T19:04:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:04:26","slug":"republican-attorneys-general-urge-epa-to-classify-mifepristone-as-water-contaminant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448","title":{"rendered":"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Republican attorneys general from 14 states and 19 GOP members of Congress are asking U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to classify and regulate the abortion medication mifepristone as a water contaminant.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=446\">With Iran peace agreement to be signed Friday, Trump says ships moving in Strait of Hormuz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mifepristone is prescribed as part of a two-drug medication regimen to terminate a pregnancy. Studies have shown medication abortion to be safe and effective.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter last Friday, the state officials argued that mifepristone is \u201ca growing threat to the country\u2019s waterways.\u201d The  was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.<\/p>\n<p>A concurrent , led by Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, made similar claims and was signed by 18 other GOP members of Congress.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Doctors voice \u2018temporary relief\u2019 as SCOTUS allows mifepristone via mail to continue for now<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"gLNfCnwhtU\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"282\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" scrolling=\"no\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/ncnewsline.com\/2026\/05\/15\/doctors-voice-temporary-relief-as-scotus-allows-mifepristone-via-mail-to-continue-for-now\/embed\/#?secret=weQgVJr30P#?secret=gLNfCnwhtU\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cDoctors voice \u2018temporary relief\u2019 as SCOTUS allows mifepristone via mail to continue for now\u201d \u2014 NC Newsline\" width=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Environmental health science experts say there is no evidence that mifepristone in wastewater causes\u00a0harm to the environment or to humans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no evidence that medication abortion is affecting U.S. water systems, including drinking water and aquatic wildlife,\u201d the Center for Biological Diversity, which advocates for stronger environmental protections, says on its website.<\/p>\n<p>The GOP letters cite a 1996 FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research statement that said harmful environmental effects from mifepristone were \u201cnot anticipated,\u201d while acknowledging that the drug may enter the environment via excretion or disposal of pharmaceutical waste. But drug trace amounts in water are a common occurrence, experts say, and state environmental agencies and scientists check for harmful contaminants in water as part of protocols and research.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=444\">Dr. Hope Thompson of the Natural Resources Defense Council on rising homeowner\u2019s insurance<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2025, state lawmakers in seven states introduced nine bills that included claims about medication abortion and its effects on the environment and water. State lawmakers also introduced legislation calling for testing for mifepristone in water systems.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Republican members of Congress brought up similar concerns in a  to the EPA.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Supreme Court  to preserve telehealth access to mifepristone until after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on the merits of the high-stakes federal lawsuit Louisiana v. Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n<p>Medication abortion accounted for nearly two-thirds of all clinician-provided abortions in states without abortion bans in 2023, according to the most recent data available from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on advancing reproductive rights.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at <\/em><em><span>[email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes NC Newsline, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=442\">A US spying law expires amid distrust of Trump moves on national security<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Environmental health science experts say there is no evidence that mifepristone in wastewater causes harm to the environment or to humans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant - North Carolina Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant - North Carolina Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Environmental health science experts say there is no evidence that mifepristone in wastewater causes harm to the environment or to humans.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Carolina Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T19:04:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2\"},\"headline\":\"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T19:04:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448\"},\"wordCount\":492,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c06d5f1a9d285bf03ab2574280e9c2de.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448\",\"name\":\"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant - North Carolina Moving Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c06d5f1a9d285bf03ab2574280e9c2de.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-15T19:04:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c06d5f1a9d285bf03ab2574280e9c2de.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c06d5f1a9d285bf03ab2574280e9c2de.jpg\",\"width\":936,\"height\":626},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=448#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Carolina Moving Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant - North Carolina Moving Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant - North Carolina Moving Journal","og_description":"Environmental health science experts say there is no evidence that mifepristone in wastewater causes harm to the environment or to humans.","og_url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448","og_site_name":"North Carolina Moving Journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-15T19:04:26+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2"},"headline":"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant","datePublished":"2026-06-15T19:04:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448"},"wordCount":492,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c06d5f1a9d285bf03ab2574280e9c2de.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448","url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448","name":"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant - North Carolina Moving Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c06d5f1a9d285bf03ab2574280e9c2de.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-15T19:04:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c06d5f1a9d285bf03ab2574280e9c2de.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c06d5f1a9d285bf03ab2574280e9c2de.jpg","width":936,"height":626},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=448#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Republican attorneys general urge EPA to classify mifepristone as water contaminant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/","name":"North Carolina Moving Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/50abdfd1c54064e8e5f9557bc46a5ed2","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}