Alternative science against the corrupt elites? The effects of pseudoscience and censorship accusations in health misinformation - HKS Misinformation Review

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office filed a lawsuit to reinstate in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone. (Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) Misinformation and junk science about abortion are spreading at alarming rates and are becoming key components in legislation and litigation as well as in federal regulatory agencies. In March, anti-abortion lawmakers in Congress introduced the Clean Water for All Life Act, citing junk science to claim that mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in medication abortion, is contaminating drinking water, and seeking to prohibit telehealth dispensing of the drug, among other requirements; the bill remains in committee. Pressure from anti-abortion advocates resulted in the Environmental Protection Agency including mifepristone in a study of potential contaminants in drinking water and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducting a “safety study” of the drug, citing a self-published report that has been widely debunked. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 for use in medication abortion, and more than a hundred peer-reviewed studies have shown it to be safe and effective.