On September 9, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a screening study of the nation's drinking water for “pharmaceuticals, PFAS, and more than 1,000 potential contaminants.” EPA's announcement did not mention abortion. But Politico, citing a description of the study, reported that it “will test, for the first time, for traces of the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol,” and the conservative Christian outlet WORLD also reported both drugs are on the list.
The study is a screening exercise, not a regulation. Politico reported it will sample water from several metropolitan areas, will show whether substances are present rather than how much, and “may not lead to additional regulation.” EPA framed it as complementing its draft list of candidate contaminants and a proposed monitoring rule. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was quoted in EPA's announcement: “EPA is going to search for pharmaceuticals, PFAS, and other contaminants that have gone undetected—and give Americans the truth about what is in their water.”
Testing for the pills had been a goal of anti-abortion activists. E&E News reported in December 2025 that Students for Life of America had launched a campaign to add mifepristone to EPA's list of drinking water contaminants after a meeting with EPA staff, and on June 5, 2026, 14 Republican state attorneys general and 19 Republican members of Congress urged EPA to classify and regulate mifepristone as a water contaminant, The 19th reported. Scientists say there is no evidence that mifepristone in water is harming people or the environment, and that trace amounts are not likely to reach rivers and streams, “let alone tap water,” E&E News reported. E&E News reported last December that EPA had no verified test method for mifepristone.
Betsy Southerland, a former EPA water official, told Politico, “If there is any detectable level of mifepristone or its metabolites, the anti-abortion groups will scream that we are unknowingly aborting fetuses by drinking public tap water.” Nathan Donley of the Center for Biological Diversity said, “There are legitimate water quality threats that we need to attack and rectify in a regulatory manner.” Mother Jones contrasted the study with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's announcement days later that the agency would eliminate climate pollution standards for power plants (see EPA Repeals Most of the Biden-Era Carbon Limits on Coal and Gas Power Plants and Proposes Ending the Rest).