WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative Sheri Biggs (R-SC) introduced the “Don’t Flush Babies Act” in Congress, a bill that would require a “do not flush” warning label on chemical abortion pill packaging. Liberty Counsel Action worked closely with Rep. Biggs’ office to draft the bill.

The bill is a response to the approximate 700,000 chemical abortions happening at home annually where human fetal remains, biohazardous medical waste, and active pharmaceutical compounds are being flushed down the toilet into municipal water systems that are not designed to filter out such contaminants.

“Every year, women are traumatized by seeing the remains of their aborted babies in the toilet after taking a chemical abortion pill. This bill is a necessary reality check regarding the undignified treatment of human baby remains and the irreversible consequences of at-home chemical abortions,” said Rep. Biggs. “This measure will help protect the dignity of these countless babies, our environmental stewardship, and public sanitation by upholding the national standard of crystal-clean drinking water for American families.”

                                                        This label is an artist's rendering and not official. 

According to the bill, the “Do Not Flush” label would consist of a pictorial image of a fetus at 10 weeks of gestation that displays a head, arms, and legs as well as a pictorial image of a toilet all enclosed in the standard “Do Not” symbol of a red circle with a diagonal red slash. The label would include the warning statement: “DO NOT FLUSH THE FETUS OR SOLID MEDICAL WASTE GENERATED BY USE OF THIS DRUG.”

The bill would also require abortion providers who prescribe, dispense, or encourage the use of chemical abortion drugs to provide women with a “catch kit” to collect and contain aborted human fetal remains and medical waste generated by using an abortion drug. The catch kit would include two “brightly colored, leak resistant, biohazardous collection container(s)” marked with the international biohazard symbol and labeled with one of the two following statements, “Human Fetal Remains” and “Solid Medical Waste.” The bill would then require abortion providers to receive catch kits returned by patients and ensure the dignified disposition of the human remains.

The labeling and catch kit would apply standard medical waste handling principles to chemical abortions to mitigate contamination of U.S. public water systems. The bill would amend the 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to deem abortion drugs without the “Do Not Flush” label as misbranded.

“Clear and conspicuous packaging notices on chemical abortion drugs can reduce undignified disposition of aborted human fetal remains and improper disposal of solid medical waste,” the bill reads.

The criminal penalties for abortionists who dispense abortion drugs without the catch kit would entail prison time for no more than five years and a fine between $20,000 up to $150,000 for each offense. Failure to include the “Do Not Flush” warning label brings the same penalties as any other misbranded drug.

Liberty Counsel Action (LCA) helped draft the bill as part of a sustained initiative urging federal officials to investigate and regulate abortion-related contaminants in the nation’s water supply. LCA’s 97-page special report states abortion-pill contaminants retain the ability to block the fertility hormone progesterone and can survive in wastewater. In addition, a recent peer-reviewed study found anti-progestins (abortion pill equivalents) in the environmental waters of three U.S. cities (Austin, Texas; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Carbondale, Illinois) and in the tap water of two of those cities.

The bill was inspired by the “Wastewater Infrastructure Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety (WIPPES) Act,” which has passed in both chambers of Congress and would require non-flushable wet wipe manufacturers to put “Do Not Flush” labels on their products to protect wastewater infrastructure from damage.

“If we should not be flushing baby wipes, we certainly should not be flushing babies,” said Liberty Counsel Action President John Stemberger. “Public water systems are not meant to process human remains or medical waste and do not filter out the active pharmaceutical compounds from abortion drugs. Requiring ‘Do Not Flush’ labeling and a catch kit applies the same medical waste standards at abortion facilities to at-home abortions. Beyond the environmental and wastewater infrastructure concerns, countless women have been traumatized from seeing the aborted remains of their pregnancy which are often fully recognizable as a baby. It is just not acceptable to flush a baby down the toilet, which contaminates our public drinking water in the process. The ‘Don’t Flush Babies Act’ is urgently needed for sanitary collection of human remains and to protect the U.S. water supply.”

Learn more about why this legislation is necessary on LCA’s website here.

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