The reversal of Roe v. Wade has allowed nearly two dozen states to implement laws limiting or outlawing abortions. But abortion lovers aren’t fretting too much. That’s in large part because there is a massive black market for abortion pills.

In gross contradiction of federal law, Indian “pharmacies” are profiting handsomely by trafficking scores of abortion drugs into the United States. Doing so is a violation of the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits the interstate shipment of unapproved drugs. The abortion drugs shipped in from India fall into this category.
In addition to killing unborn children, these drugs can be extremely dangerous to women. The FDA only recommends the use of such drugs during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, as taking abortion drugs after that time can result in serious complications, such as heavy bleeding or a retained placenta. Yet Indian “pharmacies” make no effort to sell only to women who are pregnant within this timeframe, often resulting in women taking the medication well into their second trimester of pregnancy.
Linda Prine, a doctor in New York, talked about the “scary” experiences women faced after taking abortion pills trafficked from India.
“They were having a really scary miserable experience,” she told the Washington Post. Prine explained that a major factor that contributed to this “miserable experience” is that women would “pass a recognizable fetus.” This was often because of the pills’ long shipping time, she said.
Prine additionally told Vox that women would call a hotline after taking pills from an Indian pharmacy and say things like, “I just passed my pregnancy and it’s the size of my fist.” Others, she said, would call because the umbilical cord was still connected.
The FDA has a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy in place for the dispensing of mifepristone, the most common abortion drug, in order to mitigate its known risks to women. It requires that mifepristone be dispensed unde...