Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration recently launched a study to find traces of abortion pills in drinking water, as anti-abortion advocates seek to have them outlawed.
In a press release, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will be using "cutting-edge methods" to study "what pollutants may be present in drinking water."
In an updated Contaminant List, the EPA, for the first time ever, listed microplastics and pharmaceuticals, including contraceptive pills like mifepristone and misoprostol.
According to The Hill, the move comes after anti-abortion advocates pushed for the change for years in hopes it could be "a precursor to restricting access to the drug, or at a minimum influencing a debate about its safety."
In an interview, Kristi Hamrick, head of policy at Students for Life of America, said it was "exciting after a very long journey that's been almost 10 years, to have this be taken seriously enough to be on an official list."
Pro-choice advocates have emphasized there is no evidence that such pills are present in drinking water.
Nathan Donley, the environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, accused the EPA of "wasting time on a witch hunt," as the presence of the abortion drugs on the list "is meant to stigmatize."
Trump targets reproductive rights in right-wing push ahead of midterms
The change also appears to be part of efforts by Republicans and the Trump administration to gain ground and garner enthusiasm with right-wing voters ahead of the November midterms.
"We have heard loud and clear that Americans are concerned about potential unknown pollutants lurking in their drinking water. The Trump EPA is committed to getting to the bottom of this," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. agreed and praised the plan, as he has, for decades, "fought unsuccessfully to get EPA to conduct this kind of comprehensive testing."