Lawsuits allege women forced to take abortion pills obtained online after FDA eased rules
By Daily Caller News Foundation (/journals/dcnf)
Lawsuits alleging forced abortions have accumulated since the FDA relaxed its dispensing regulations for the pills in 2021.
The Biden-era FDA removed the in-person requirement so that health care providers had the ability to prescribe the abortion pills to patients completely online in 2021, according to the FDA website. The FDA finalized the in-person-requirement’s removal in 2023.
The abortion pill can be prescribed without speaking to a physician or confirming a pregnancy, the Daily Caller News Foundation found in a 2025 investigation. On some websites, the patient just has to fill out a brief form online with information.
Sixty-five percent of abortions were conducted via a pill in 2023, with the trend increasing since 2001, according to a report from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. Ninety-seven percent of abortion pill prescriptions were filled through a mail-order pharmacy, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network report.
Here are some of the lawsuits, compiled by the Heritage Foundation, that women filed alleging they were coerced to take abortion pills after the FDA changed its requirements in 2021.
2023 — Woman Attempted to Get Her Ex to Secretly Give His Girlfriend Abortion Pill
Haley Raborn was accused of and confessed to plotting to kill her ex-boyfriend’s 11-week-old unborn baby using an abortion pill without the mother’s consent, the Hernando Sun reported.
Raborn asked her ex-boyfriend to kill his unborn child with abortion pills, according to Fox13. Raborn allegedly offered to pay the father with Airpods if he fulfilled her request, according to the Hernando Sun.
Raborn met with the father to give him the pills, the outlet reported. The father turned the pills over to law enforcement. Raburn later told investigators that she obtained the pills online. Raborn has been charged with soliciting and attempting murder on an unborn child by injury to the mother.
2024 — Man Tricks Woman into Taking Abortion Pills by Calling them Supplement Pills
Robert Kawada has been indicted on charges of tricking his girlfriend into taking abortion pills. Kawada allegedly told her that the abortion pills were vitamin pills, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office press release. Kawada allegedly arranged for someone to call the victim, claiming to be from the victim’s medical facility and encourage her to take vitamin pills saying she had low iron in recent tests.
Kawada then came to the victim’s house and claimed to have the type of pill the doctor recommended to her, according to the press release. The pills he gave her were actually abortion pills which Kawada allegedly bought online, using another female’s identity. After taking the abortion pills that she thought were supplements, the victim suffered a miscarriage.
2024 — Man Force Feeds Abortion Pills to Girlfriend While She Sleeps
Former Ohio surgeon Hassan-James Abbas climbed on top of his girlfriend while she was sleeping and shoved crushed abortion pills into her mouth, according to the Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney press release. Abbas knew that his girlfriend did not want to abort their baby, WTVG reported.
After he forced the pills into her mouth, his girlfriend broke free from his grip and attempted to call 911, according to the press release. Abbas forcefully took her phone and ended the 911 call.
As soon as she could get away, the victim went to the hospital where she began hemorrhaging, according to her statementfor the Daily Wire. She miscarried her child in the hospital.
Abbas ordered the pills online using his ex-wife’s date of birth and driver’s license number without her consent, according to the press release.
2024 — Man Allegedly Sneaks Abortion Pills into Girlfriend’s Drink and Food
U.S. Department of Justice employee Justin Anthony Banta has been accused of spiking his girlfriend’s coffee with an abortion pill. Banta had previously offered to pay for an abortion pill for his girlfriend, and she refused, wanting to keep their baby.
A sonogram on Oct. 17, 2024 showed that their 6-week-old baby was healthy, according to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office press release. That day of the sonogram, the victim met Banta for coffee. She claimed that he added an abortion pill to her drink without her knowledge.
Police said security footage showed Banta pouring an “unknown, white-colored substance” that had been packaged in a “small clear bag” into the cup that he then gave to the victim, according to WFAA. He also brought her homemade cookies, which testing later revealed contained mifepristone and misoprostol, and asked her to send a photo of her eating them, according to a warrant reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She did not eat the cookies.
The next day, the victim stated that she began “to suffer from extreme fatigue and heavy bleeding, prompting her to visit the emergency room,” according to the press release. She lost her baby on Oct. 19.
2025 — Mother Charged with Forcing Daughter to Take Abortion Pills
A woman has been charged with obtaining mail-order drugs and forcing her daughter to take them, according to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA).
The daughter had planned a gender reveal party for her unborn child before the mother forced her to terminate her child, the outlet reported. The daughter then faced a severe medical emergency and ended up in the hospital after calling 911. She lost her child.
The mother ordered the pills from New York through an online questionnaire without consulting her pregnant daughter, CBS News reported. Dr. Megan Carpenter, who illegally shipped the pills to Texas — may be protected from any penalty due to New York’s “shield laws.”
2025 — Woman Claims Wrongful Death Against Former Partner for Tricking her into taking Abortion Pill
A woman is suing her former partner for “secretly dissolving abortion pills into a hot beverage that he had prepared” and tricking her into drinking it, according to the legal complaint.
The woman wanted to keep her unborn baby, who she had named Joy, but her partner did not. He would “constantly pressure” her to abort the unborn child, according to the complaint.
He obtained the abortion pills online, according to the legal document. Within 30 minutes of consuming a beverage they were mixed into, the victim began hemorrhaging and proceeded to lose her baby.
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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.