Public disputes concerning abortion law and policy, including medication abortion, gestational limits, clinic access, funding, and the regulation of abortion drugs.
Published coverage on this page: 1 case · 3 statements. Statements are ordered newest first.
Senator Josh Hawley wants Congress to revoke the FDA's approval of mifepristone and ban the abortion pill nationally. His bill has stalled in committee, and in September he began pressing Republicans to sign a pledge backing it.
Published
Read the caseLabels describe a response to the linked claim or the action explained in the statement summary. Choose one or more.
3 matching statements
Role at the time: United States Senator for Ohio, responding to questions from Axios; his answer is reported in paraphrase, not quoted directly
Statement summary
Asked by Axios for his position on Hawley's bill to ban mifepristone, Senator Jon Husted said he had not seen it. Axios reported his answer in paraphrase and did not publish a direct quotation, so no words of Husted's own are on the record; the excerpt held here is the reporter's sentence, quoted verbatim from the source. Husted was facing a competitive reelection race in Ohio at the time.
“Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who faces a competitive reelection race, told Axios he hasn't seen Hawley's bill when asked for his position on it.”
What this label refers to
The case's fixed reference point is Hawley's proposition that Congress should ban mifepristone by revoking its federal approval. Husted was asked directly for his position and withheld it, which is a refusal rather than a substantive response. The closest competing label is a finding that this is not a position event at all, since not having read a bill can be a plain statement of fact rather than an evasion. That loses because the question put to him was expressly for his position, and Axios reported the answer as one of several from senators in competitive races who would not state one. This record carries a lower grade of evidence than the others in the case: the source paraphrases rather than quotes, so the substance is attributable to Husted but the wording is the reporter's.
Role at the time: United States Senator for North Carolina, responding to questions from Axios
Statement summary
Asked by Axios for his position on Hawley's bill, Senator Thom Tillis said he had not seen it. Asked whether Republicans were talking about the issue in general, he answered no.
“No.”
What this label refers to
The case's fixed reference point is Hawley's proposition that Congress should ban mifepristone by revoking its federal approval. Tillis withholds a position on the bill and then closes down the broader subject, which is a refusal rather than a substantive response. The closest competing label is a finding that this is not a position event at all, since not having read a bill can be a simple statement of fact. That loses because the exchange was an express request for his position and he declined it twice, the second time foreclosing discussion of the issue itself.
Role at the time: United States Senator for Louisiana and chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, responding to questions from MS NOW
Statement summary
Asked about Hawley's bill, Senator Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to which it had been referred, told MS NOW that he opposes the current scope of availability of abortion pills, then added that he had not seen this particular legislation. He has not said whether his committee will take the bill up.
“I haven't seen this particular legislation.”
What this label refers to
The case's fixed reference point is Hawley's proposition that Congress should ban mifepristone by revoking its federal approval. Asked directly for his position on the bill, Cassidy closed the question by saying he had not seen it, while stating a general view on abortion pill availability. That is a refusal to take a position on the specific proposal. The closest competing label is defends_or_excuses, because he volunteered that he opposes the drug's current availability. That loses because the case's reference point is the congressional ban, not availability in the abstract; his general remark does not commit him to the bill, and the operative part of the answer withholds a position on it.
United States Senator (Republican) from North Carolina.
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