Josh Hawley Backs Declaration for Life, Mifepristone Ban

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has joined Christian leaders in calling on Congress to ban the use of the abortion drug mifepristone.

Hawley unveiled the Declaration for Life during the first annual Missouri Prayer Breakfast on Capitol Hill on Sept. 16. Written by pastors and Christian leaders from across the country, the declaration supports pro-life legislation, condemns chemical abortion and affirms the dignity of human life from conception until natural death.

“This Declaration for Life, written by pastors, is calling on everyday Christians across America to stand for life and confront the scourge of chemical abortion,” Hawley said. “We want to call on lawmakers from both parties to sign this Declaration and support protecting human life in law.”

Hawley also urged the Senate to vote on his Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act. The legislation, S. 4066, would withdraw federal approval of mifepristone for terminating pregnancies, prohibit its distribution for that purpose and allow women who allege harm from the drug to sue its manufacturers.

The bill, introduced in March, has seven Republican co-sponsors and remains before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. A companion bill, H.R. 7902, has been introduced in the House.

Missouri Baptist Convention President Wesley Vance of Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield attended the rally.

“This Declaration of Life puts our carnal culture on notice that we will not be silent,” Vance said. Ken Parker, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Kearney, led participants in prayer and said the gathering emphasized “the gospel as the answer for humanity’s needs.”

The declaration connects its defense of life to the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“This year marks America’s 250th anniversary,” it says. “The Declaration of Independence gives us three examples of ‘unalienable’ rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life is the first of those rights because it is the condition of the others.”

The document continues: “We believe we have an obligation as Christians and spiritual leaders to remind our countrymen of what Scripture and conscience together proclaim: that every human being, from the moment of our knitting together in our mothers’ wombs, was fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, praised the declaration while criticizing what he described as the Republican Party’s retreat from the abortion issue.

“There are Republican members of Congress and state leaders who continue to champion the unborn, but the Republican Party has gone all but silent on the issue of life,” Perkins said. “The strong pro-life language that was a part of the GOP platform for decades was removed, and little is said about abortion.”

Hawley and the declaration cite a study concluding that nearly 11 percent of women who take mifepristone experience a serious adverse event or emergency-room visit within 45 days. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration disputes broader claims that the drug is unsafe, saying mifepristone is safe when used as directed under its federal safety program and that periodic reviews have identified no new safety concerns.

The declaration comes as Missouri prepares for another statewide vote on abortion. On Nov. 3, voters will decide whether to approve Amendment 3, which would repeal the reproductive-health protections approved in 2024 and permit lawmakers to restrict abortion, while retaining exceptions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies and pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The proposal also would prohibit gender-transition procedures for minors.

An August Saint Louis University/YouGov poll of 900 likely Missouri voters found 43 percent supporting Amendment 3, 44 percent opposing it and 13 percent unsure. The difference was within the poll’s margin of error. In February, the proposal led 50 percent to 39 percent.

“The decline in support crossed party lines,” poll director Steven Rogers said.

Read the complete Declaration for Life.

–MBC Pathway with additional reporting by Alan Goforth

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