Discussion
The EPA will test America's drinking water for abortion medication & birth control—caving to a years-long pressure campaign from anti-abortion extremists.
https://jessica.substack.com/p/breaking-epa-will-test-drinking-water
POLITICO broke the news first, and points out that EPA’s test will only show whether certain chemicals are present in the water, not how much there is or whether the amount poses a risk to people.
But that won't matter much in terms of the politics— conservatives will use *any* amount to attack us
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/09/abortion-opponents-claim-tremendous-victory-as-epa-tests-water-for-abortion-pills-01073232
POLITICO broke the news first, and points out that EPA’s test will only show whether certain chemicals are present in the water, not how much there is or whether the amount poses a risk to people.
But that won't matter much in terms of the politics— conservatives will use *any* amount to attack us
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/09/abortion-opponents-claim-tremendous-victory-as-epa-tests-water-for-abortion-pills-01073232
I've been tracking this for years now, so a few important things to know:
-The goal is to open up a new legal front for attacking abortion: environmental law.
-Antis are pushing related bills that mandate women use "catch kits" to bag up miscarriage and abortion remains as toxic medical waste
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Just a few months ago, the EPA recommended that states test their drinking water for abortion medication and birth control, putting the drugs on a federal list of potential “contaminants”
But that was just a recommendation; this is the EPA actually doing it. The new list also includes mifepristone
https://jessica.substack.com/p/the-epa-tells-states-to-test-the
The EPA Tells States to Test the Water for Birth Control and Abortion Pills