Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is asking EPA to justify including some contraceptives and abortifacients in its new list of 374 pharmaceuticals that states, tribes and local water systems should be monitoring, accusing the agency of “laying the groundwork for sweeping state and federal restrictions on reproductive health care.”
Wyden — the top Democrat on the powerful Finance Committee — demanded EPA provide by May 5 “the scientific, peer-reviewed justification” for including contraceptives and abortion medications on its new “benchmark list,” as well as “a full accounting” of any communications it had with anti-abortion activists while developing the policies.
“This administration’s attempt to co-opt environmental policy to wage a shadow war on reproductive rights is an egregious abuse of power,” wrote Wyden in a letter shared first with POLITICO. “The inclusion of these reproductive health medications is clearly a coordinated, politically motivated attempt to restrict women’s freedom under the guise of ‘drinking water safety.’”
An EPA spokesperson said, “We have received the letter and will respond through the proper channels.”
