House Republicans Want to Stay Away From Josh Hawley’s Abortion Pill Ban

When Sen. Josh Hawley introduced legislation to ban mifepristone at the federal level, it put a spotlight back on some Republicans’ least favorite campaign issue: abortion.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022, Republicans have mostly avoided addressing abortion in the elections since. For Hawley, his bill to greatly restrict medication abortion is an opportunity for Republicans to lean into the issue rather than run away from it.

“Not talking about abortion, they may think that’s a feature. I think that’s a bug,” Hawley told NOTUS. “I’m pro-life. I want to do what I can to advance the pro-life cause.”

Hawley is considered a potential 2028 presidential contender, and has been trying to position himself as a populist who is also socially conservative.

The bill will not receive the Democratic support needed for it to advance in the Senate. But even in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, some Republicans disagree with the senator.

“It’s my opinion that each and every Republican has to run their own race,” Rep. Max Miller, whose seat is being targeted by Democrats, told NOTUS. “The state of Missouri is very much different from the state of Ohio.”

In 2023, Ohio voters approved a citizen-led constitutional amendment codifying abortion rights into the state’s constitution. The amendment undid a law that banned abortions after six weeks. Miller said he was “not happy or satisfied” with the outcome of the 2023 referendum — but he thinks his party’s anti-abortion push meant “we went from a state that went from six weeks to 26 weeks because of rhetoric just like that,” referring to Hawley’s belief that Republicans should be louder in their opposition to abortion rights.

“I respect his opinion. I am extremely pro-life and I’ve never been anything but pro-life. But I’m going to go ahead and stick with President Trump on this one and not the senator,” said Miller, who added that he was undecided on the bill. He said abortion is an issue that “should reside” at the state level.

During the 2024 election, then-candidate Donald Trump essentially argued that the issue should be decided by the states, angering anti-abortion leaders. As a result, the GOP backed away its formal support for a federal abortion ban, and other Republicans followed suit.

Rep. David Valadao, who faces a tough reelection due to California’s redistricting efforts, told NOTUS that he has not looked at the legislation, but suggested Republicans should emphasize other issues ahead of November aside from abortion.

“I think what we should be focusing on right now is funding the government, get DHS back open, pass the farm bill, getting permitting reform done and working on things that actually make our economy better and make our country stronger,” Valadao said.

Hawley’s legislation would force the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw its approval of mifepristone, the most widely used abortion pill, to be used for abortions. It would also establish a right of action for patients to sue abortion pill manufacturers. Medication abortion accounts for more than half of all abortions in the U.S., according to the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights.

A March Pew Research Center poll found that most Americans — 60% — believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases, with 38% saying it should be illegal in all or most cases. While Pew found that current support is high, the most recent number is a decline from the 63% record high in 2023.

Nearly the entire Senate Republican Conference supports restricting access to abortion pills. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who support abortion rights, are the outliers.

Collins told NOTUS that she has not yet read the legislation but “can’t imagine” supporting a bill looking to ban mifepristone.

Similarly in the House, at least one House Republican said that he opposes the bill.

Rep. Mike Lawler, who’s running for reelection in a competitive district, told NOTUS he would not be supporting the bill. When NOTUS asked whether Republicans should focus on abortion ahead of November, Lawler simply said, “No,” while smiling.

The House version of the bill, which was introduced by Rep. Diana Harshbarger, has five co-sponsors. Harshbarger said she expects more Republicans to support the legislation, adding that her team has not yet “really worked the bill” because “there’s a lot going on in Congress right now.” She said that GOP lawmakers who are unsure or against the bill “need explanation.”

“We have to work on educating the other members,” Harshbarger told NOTUS. “It may be a personal thing that they want to sponsor or don’t want to sponsor, maybe they don’t feel the same way, or they have a district that, you know, if they do sponsor it, they’ll say, ‘Well, we’re not going to vote for you.’ Listen, I didn’t come up here with that kind of agenda.”

Abortion is not a top issue in 2026. A December AP-NORC poll found that 71% of respondents mention at least one economic issue they want the government to prioritize in 2026, compared to just 4% of respondents who said abortion was a key issue this year.

Multiple Republicans competing for reelection in swing districts demurred when asked whether they would support the legislation.

Rep. Gabe Evans said mifepristone has “viable medical uses.” When NOTUS asked for clarification on whether that meant he opposed the bill, Evans said, “I have to read it, I haven’t seen the policies, but I’m always cautious of issues like that.”

Rep. Nick LaLota said: “Hawley’s a smart guy. I’ll take a look at his legislation and assess its impact on my constituents and the country, but in New York state, abortion is settled law.” (Abortion is protected through the 24th week of pregnancy under the state’s constitution.)

“I don’t know anything about that bill but I’m happy to research it, and you can follow up with us,” Rep. Jen Kiggans, a vulnerable Republican from Virginia, told NOTUS. Her office did not respond to requests for comment on whether the congresswoman supports Harshbarger’s legislation.

The bill’s introduction comes amid anti-abortion leaders’ growing frustration with the Trump administration over its inaction to restrict abortion pills and the FDA’s approval of a generic mifepristone. They have been arguing that sidelining the issue risks alienating the anti-abortion base.

“Ahead of midterms, pro-life Republicans must act and speak out boldly about stopping the mail-order abortion drug crisis,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a press release. “The worst option is to take the ‘ostrich strategy,’ say nothing and hope to deal with the problem down the road, if at all. Sitting on the fence makes no voters happier — it is a sure-fire recipe for avoidable losses this November.”

The bill is highly unlikely to become law. But some Republicans see the legislation as a step toward eventually banning abortion pills.

“As somebody who’s a long-term pro-life advocate, all I know is that if you flash back a couple of decades ago, everyone told us that the fight on Roe v. Wade was futile and there’s no point,” Rep. Riley Moore, who has yet to formally co-sponsor the bill, told NOTUS. “That’s how I feel about this, too.”