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Senate Committee Approves Notice Requirement on Abortion‑Pill 'Reversal' After Expert Testimony
Summary
The Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee advanced Senate Bill 341 after testimony from sponsor Senator Irving and OB‑GYN Richard Wyatt. The bill would require clinics to give written notice to patients about abortion‑pill reversal options; Department of Health counsel said enforcement would follow existing 'right to know' provisions.
Senate Bill 341, which would require written notification to patients seeking medication abortion about the option and instructions for an abortion‑pill 'reversal,' passed out of the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee by voice vote. Sponsor Senator Irving described the measure as a reporting requirement and said it has had bipartisan support.
Dr. Richard Wyatt, a board‑certified obstetrician‑gynecologist, testified in favor of the bill and described how medication abortion is administered. "They're given ... the so called RU 486 ... that's an anti‑progesterone," Wyatt said, explaining that 24 to 48 hours later patients receive a second drug that causes expulsion. He told the committee there is a "safe ... means to give them, high doses of a natural progesterone" that he said can increase the chance of continuing a pregnancy. Wyatt also stated, as an assertion, that "medical abortion is probably 30, 45 percent of all abortions" and later said "they're probably over 500 babies that are alive today, because of being given this ... abortion pill reversal regimen, with maybe 150 ongoing today." Those figures were presented by Wyatt as his experience and were not independently confirmed in the hearing.
Committee members pressed on timing and enforcement. Senator Sample asked how quickly reversal must begin; Wyatt replied the relevant window is "24 to 48 hours" after the first drug. Senator Hammer asked who would bear responsibility if required information were not provided; Senator Irving said the bill itself does not specify penalties and described it as an informational requirement. Laura Shue, general counsel for the Department of Health, said enforcement "would be just like all the other right to know provisions that we currently enforce," noting that facilities are licensed and that complaints can be investigated and compliance reviewed annually. The department estimated a minimal fiscal impact and said it would implement the provision if it becomes law.
After discussion the committee moved and voted by voice to pass the bill. The motion carried and the chair announced the bill had passed out of committee.
What happens next: Senate Bill 341 will proceed to the next legislative stage assigned by the Senate; the committee did not specify statutory penalties in the bill text during the hearing, and members indicated follow‑up is expected on enforcement details and any needed code edits.
