SAVE Moms and Babies Act of 2025: New Bill Aims to Ban New Abortion Drugs and Restrict Existing Ones

The "Support And Value Expectant Moms and Babies Act of 2025" (SAVE Moms and Babies Act) is a proposed law that seeks to significantly restrict access to medication abortion. It does this primarily in two ways: by outright banning the approval of any new abortion drugs and by imposing a bunch of new rules on existing ones, like mifepristone.

Pills, Providers, and Paperwork

This bill, if passed, would change the landscape of medication abortion in several key ways. First, it slams the door shut on any future medication abortion options. The FDA would be prohibited from approving new drugs designed to terminate a pregnancy. For drugs already on the market, like mifepristone, things get complicated. The bill limits their use to the first 70 days of gestation (calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period) and mandates in-person dispensing by a certified healthcare practitioner. That means no more mail-order pills or getting the medication from a pharmacy.

But it's not just about where you get the pills. The bill also piles on requirements for doctors. To prescribe these drugs, healthcare providers would need special certification proving they can handle potential complications, including surgical intervention. They'd also have to provide detailed documentation about risks and get signed acknowledgment from the patient. Think of it like a much more intense informed consent process, specifically targeted at abortion medication.

Real-World Ripple Effects

So, what does this mean for someone considering medication abortion? Let's say a young woman, early in her pregnancy, wants to use medication abortion. Under this law, she couldn't just get a prescription and pick up the pills at her local pharmacy. She'd have to find a certified provider, go to their clinic or office, receive counseling and paperwork, and then take the medication in that setting. This could create significant hurdles, especially for people in rural areas, those with limited transportation, or those who have difficulty taking time off work or finding childcare.

Beyond access, the bill introduces a lot of new reporting requirements. Any "adverse event" – and the bill defines that broadly, including things like hospitalization and infection – must be reported to the FDA, without patient identifying information, but with a non-identifiable reference to the patient and the drug's serial number. Even healthcare providers who didn't prescribe the medication but are treating a patient experiencing a complication are required to report it. This increased surveillance could have a chilling effect on both providers and patients, making them hesitant to offer or seek this type of care.

Definitions and Potential Downsides

The bill also changes the definition of "unborn child" to mean an individual organism of the species homo sapiens "beginning at fertilization." (Section 2). This is a significant departure from how pregnancy is typically defined in medical terms, and it lays the groundwork for potential legal challenges to other forms of reproductive healthcare, like certain contraceptives. The bill also mandates that any ongoing investigational use of abortion drugs that was previously approved will be rescinded in three years if it doesn't comply with the new restrictions. This could stifle research and development of new treatments.

Finally, the bill requires that the administration of an abortion drug is reported as required by state law, or in the same manner as a surgical abortion if there is no state law. This could lead to inconsistent reporting practices and create additional burdens for healthcare providers.