WASHINGTON, D.C.— On Monday, March 13, Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) sent a letter to the executives of Walgreens and CVS pushing the pharmacies to dispense the abortion drug mifepristone in Montana.

On January 3, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated labeling for mifepristone (generic for Mifeprex) that would allow pharmacies (both online and brick and mortar) to dispense the drug. Walgreens announced that it would abide by state and federal law in dispensing the abortion drug combination that uses mifepristone and misoprostol. Their announcement engendered a reaction from Senator Tester who referred to Walgreen’s decision to follow the law as an “unacceptable response.”

“Senator Jon Tester wants to push a dangerous drug into rural areas of Montana,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Women in Montana could suffer from life-threatening side effects without access to emergency medical care.”

Tobias continued, “The chemical abortion method using mifepristone and misoprostol leads to the death of an unborn child and has the potential to take the life of her mother.”

Sen. Tester has a history of supporting unlimited abortion. Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2007, he has cast 51 votes that were scored by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and every single time voted against the pro-life position. His voting record is 0-51 for a lifetime rating of 0% from NRLC.

“Senator Tester once again puts the abortion lobby above the lives of unborn children and the health and safety of their mothers,” said Tobias.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the research organization affiliated with the abortion industry, approximately 54% of all abortions are done using the chemical abortion method involving mifepristone and misoprostol.

Mifepristone is used in combination with misoprostol, a prostaglandin, to cause an abortion. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, leading to the death of the unborn baby, while the second drug, misoprostol, causes powerful, painful uterine contractions to expel the dead or dying baby.

The FDA recently revised its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for Mifeprex which would require that the drug only be dispensed by pharmacies that have completed certification and only those pharmacies, once certified, could dispense the drug prescribed by certified prescribers who have pledged to follow FDA guidelines regarding the screening and counseling of patients to ensure they know the risks and dangers.

“Promoters of these pills like to trumpet high safety rates but neglect to mention how, with hundreds of thousands of women taking these pills, even a couple of percentage points of women hemorrhaging, dealing with infections, and ectopic pregnancy, represents thousands of women desperately seeking treatment, which may or may not be nearby,” said Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research for National Right to Life.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.