The rate of adverse events from the abortion pill grew significantly higher after the Biden administration removed the in-person dispensing requirement for the drug. The rate of serious adverse events was 10.15% when a requirement was in effect that women visit health clinics in person to obtain the pill. However, it jumped to 11.50% when that requirement was removed, according to the new report from Ethics and Public Policy Center. This marks a statistically significant difference of 1.35 percentage points and an increase of 13%. The Biden Administration eliminated abortion pill safeguards that protected women.Now, our new research shows this caused a tragic spike in the rate of serious adverse events for women across the country. pic.twitter.com/Vrb19L3zwh— Ethics and Public Policy Center (@EPPCdc) March 10, 2026 “A year ago we reported that the data show chemical abortion is 22 times more dangerous for women than the FDA previously admitted,” EPPC President Ryan T. Anderson told The Daily Signal. “Now the data show that chemical abortion became significantly more dangerous after the Biden admin removed the in-person doctor requirement.” “So not only is it dangerous, but allowing online, mail-order abortion pills made it even worse,” he continued. “That’s all the more reason for the Trump FDA to at minimum restore the in-person doctor visit.” In April 2021, the Biden administration’s FDA stopped requiring that abortion drugs be dispensed to women in person, which allowed them to receive abortion pills through the mail with telehealth appointments. The FDA has not enforced the in-person dispensing requirement ever since. Pro-life advocates have repeatedly called on President Donald Trump and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary to restore the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion pill, but the administration has not acted. “Do not play politics with women’s lives,” Anderson said. “Every day you delay the return of the in-person doctor visit requirement, is a day when more women are placed at risk. Women deserve better.” A previous study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center found that 11% of women experience adverse health effects, such as sepsis, infection, and hemorrhaging, within 45 days of a chemical abortion. The FDA is performing a safety review of mifepristone, but no findings have been released. On March 6, Department of Justice lawyers asked a court to pause a Louisiana state lawsuit seeking to restore the in-person dispensing requirement on mifepristone. The judge “should either stay this case until after FDA completes its [safety] review or dismiss it,” the lawyers wrote. The EPPC report found that taking mifepristone without an in-person doctor’s visit is particularly dangerous for women with an ectopic pregnancy, which can only be diagnosed by a physician in-person. The data also shows that the rate of chemical abortion prescriptions during an ectopic pregnancy was 0.27% before Biden relaxed regulations, and 0.41% after, a 52% increase. Mifepristone has become the most common abortion method, accounting for about 63% of all abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood’s research arm. However, this is likely an undercount, according to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, because it does not include abortions outside the formal health care system or under shield laws. Shield laws allow abortionists to mail abortion drugs to women in states that prohibit most abortions or impose gestational limits on abortions, promising them immunity from lawsuits or state penalties. The post Adverse Events Skyrocketed After Biden Loosened Abortion Guardrails, New Report Shows appeared first on The Daily Signal.

A tech group that has received funding from left-leaning nonprofits is suing the Trump administration over the threatened deportation or revocation of visas for noncitizens the State Department identified as trying to censor Americans. While the administration says the policy targets foreigners seeking to censor Americans, the plaintiffs, the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, allege in the complaint that the government is “excluding and deporting noncitizens whose work involves combatting misinformation and disinformation.” The litigation in the D.C. District Court is a battleground in which both sides claim to be defending free speech. Plaintiffs assert that the administration’s policy violates the First and Fifth Amendment rights of noncitizens who are in the country legally, including researchers, scientists, nonprofit staff, and educators. They also allege it violates the Administrative Procedure Act, a law that governs how executive branch regulations are created and implemented.  “Researchers who help everyday people understand the impacts of Big Tech are scared that they and their families will be targeted for detention and deportation under this policy,” said Brandi Geurkink, executive director of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, in a public statement.  The group says that several coalition members were blocked from the United States under the policy because they researched “online hate speech and platform advertising policies.” “At a time when AI is rapidly changing our lives and economy and people are already worried about their freedom and safety online, we need independent researchers more than ever,” Geurkink added. “This policy is meant to censor researchers into silence and keep the public in the dark, and that’s exactly what it’s doing.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio is named as the lead defendant in the lawsuit. Last May, Rubio announced the State Department would implement a new visa restriction that applies to foreigners complicit in censoring Americans. “Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans,” Rubio posted on X last May. “Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.” For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights.Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans.…— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 28, 2025 In December, Rubio announced that five people accused of trying to censor American viewpoints would be subject to visa restrictions. “Based on these determinations, the Department has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on agents of the global censorship-industrial complex who, as a result, will be generally barred from entering the United States,” Rubio said in a statement. “President Trump has been clear that his America First foreign policy rejects violations of American sovereignty. Extraterritorial overreach by foreign censors targeting American speech is no exception.” The lawsuit was filed in partnership with the Knight First Amendment Institute, a litigation organization based at Columbia University, and Protect Democracy, a left-of-center litigation group that has previously sued the Trump administration and has warned that democracy in the U.S. is in danger. The Coalition for Independent Technology Research is the only organization listed at the top of the complaint. It is fiscally sponsored by Aspiration, a nonprofit group that focuses on technology policy.  The Ford Foundation, a noted funder of left-leaning organizations, including immigration and environmental groups, announced that it contributed $400,000 in 2023 to Aspiration for the purpose of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research.  The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, known for mostly donating to left-leaning causes such as abortion and climate issues, made a $1 million donation to Aspiration in 2024, with $300,000 earmarked for the Coalition for Independent Technology Research. The Soros family-backed Open Society Foundation contributed $500,000 to Aspiration in 2024, according to Cause IQ, a website that monitors nonprofits.  The post Free Speech Clash: Tech Coalition Challenges Trump Anti-Censorship Visa Policy appeared first on The Daily Signal.

A medical watchdog is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to investigate companies that allow Americans to purchase sex-rejecting drugs without a prescription, in pursuit of transgender identity. Do No Harm released a report titled “The Lack of Barriers to Minors Ordering Cross-Sex Hormones Online” Tuesday. It highlights certain websites that may enable minors to obtain estrogen and testosterone from online pharmacies and other sources that do not appear to require prescriptions or age verification. Dr. Kurt Miceli, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer at Do No Harm, blamed the transgender movement—specifically the Human Rights Campaign and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health—for creating the conditions behind this phenomenon. “The unfortunate reality is that these online vendors have gained a market due to the normalization of dangerous hormonal interventions as ‘gender-affirming care’ and the resulting growth of the child transgender industry more broadly,” he told The Daily Signal. “Activist organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and ideologically motivated groups like WPATH have succeeded in selling experimental, irreversible procedures as medically necessary treatments for children,” Miceli noted. “Is it any wonder that minors believe this to be true, and may be turning to alternative sources that don’t require prescriptions?” “Our report reveals how online pharmacies may enable minors to obtain cross-sex hormones with alarming ease,” Miceli said in a separate statement on the report. “From websites listing online vendors across the globe to marketplaces for ‘homebrewed’ hormones, we found a multitude of troubling pathways that appear to bypass basic safeguards and regulatory oversight.” “Gender-confused kids should not be able to purchase potent, experimental medications with just a few simple clicks,” he added. “These hormones carry significant risks, including effects that can be irreversible. We urge the FDA and other federal agencies to investigate any potential unlawful sellers and, where appropriate, for states to do the same when their laws are being violated.” Transgender ‘Medicine’ Under Fire While activists claim that teens who suffer from gender dysphoria—the painful and persistent condition of identifying with the gender opposite one’s sex—need experimental medical interventions to prevent suicide, the Department of Health and Human Services concluded there is little evidence for positive impacts from such “treatments” for minors. Studies have shown concrete harms from these drugs, however. One study found that males who identify as transgender and take estrogen in order to appear female face higher risks of infertility, diabetes, testicular and breast cancer, and early death. An FDA study found that suicidal thoughts actually increase among kids who take so-called puberty blockers. A jury concluded that medical professionals had engaged in malpractice when cutting off the breasts of a young woman who later rejected her transgender identity. The jury ordered them to pay her $2 million. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons released a statement recommending against transgender surgery for minors under 19, leading other medical associations to follow suit. Many states passed laws protecting minors from sex-rejecting procedures, and that helps explain why companies may offer minors a way to obtain these drugs without a prescription. ‘Homebrewed’ Transgender Drugs The Do No Harm report reveals major hubs from which users can obtain drugs for “hormone replacement therapy” or HRT. “A cursory internet search for information related to pediatric medical transition reveals a host of resources directing users to online pharmacies, distribution networks for ‘homebrewed’ hormones, and guides on self-administering cross-sex hormones,” the report states. The website Transgender Map, for example, says it aims to inform readers about “how to make a gender transition,” and lists several online pharmacies located on multiple continents. The website includes this disclaimer: “getting hormones without a prescription is against the law.” HRT.Coffee and HRT Cafe provide information on pharmacies and hormone vendors, including accepted payment methods, country of origin, and product details. HRT Cafe includes a list of “unregulated” online pharmacies where users can purchase hormones online, and the website states that the pharmacies do not require prescriptions. As of Tuesday morning, HRT Cafe appears to be offline. Do No Harm visited several of the listed pharmacies’ websites, and says many of them “do not appear to require a prescription or verification of a customer’s age at any point before prompting the customer to submit payment information.” The Mexican pharmacy MedsMex ships to the U.S. and explicitly states on the website that it requires “No prescription to purchase any medicines in our pharmacy.” Inhouse Pharmacy, based in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, states that it is “permitted to process your order without a prescription.” The Daily Signal reached out to Andrea James (who runs Transgender Map), HRT.Coffee, HRT Cafe, MedsMex, and Inhouse Pharmacy for comment, and none responded by publication time. Neither the Human Rights Campaign nor WPATH responded to requests for comment. The Food and Drug Administration also did not respond by publication time. Do No Harm Pharmacies No PrescriptionDownload The post FDA Must Investigate ‘Homebrewed’ Transgender Hormones, Watchdog Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The future of the immigration issue could now rest on one man’s shoulders—Sen. Markwayne Mullin. After President Donald Trump picked the Oklahoma Republican to replace Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary, senators are speculating on whether the move will create momentum for reopening the department. For over 24 days, Senate Democrats have almost unanimously refused to advance Republican-backed measures to fund the Department of Homeland Security. They have demanded restraints on immigration law enforcement, such as restrictions on the use of face masks and administrative warrants, as well as requirements for body cameras. This holdout has resulted in a complete lapse in appropriations for an agency that deals with the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, cybersecurity, and several other responsibilities beyond immigration. BREAKING: Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-OK) first reaction to being tapped as DHS Secretary by President Trump. pic.twitter.com/QEZIzRE0pb— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 5, 2026 Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has argued Democrats ought to reconsider their refusal to fund the agency now that Trump has selected new leadership. “This, to me, is a huge development, I would think, in the funding conversation, and hopefully they’ll get more earnest about coming to the table and trying to get a deal,” said Thune after news broke. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters Monday that Mullin’s “strong guarantee of Republican backing” will likely make the confirmation process easy, but added that Mullin will “be grilled very thoroughly” by Democrats “about what reforms he will support” for the agency. Asked by The Daily Signal if conversations with Mullin amid the confirmation process could create progress in reopening the department, Blumenthal replied, “Anything’s possible. Sen. Mullin knows how this place works and how the give-and-take is essential to getting things done. Nobody gets everything they want, and some compromise is necessary.” He continued, “Those kinds of reforms that are standard operating procedure for your police force in your town, I think Secretary Mullin would be open to them.” The process will place Mullin in an unusual position, as he navigates the dynamics of bipartisan negotiations in the Senate, as well as negotiations between the executive branch and Congress. Mullin served in the House for a decade and has been a senator since 2023. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, will consider his confirmation. Mullin, who tends to align himself closely with party leadership’s positions, has spoken harshly of Paul in the past.  “We’re shooting for a week from Wednesday,” Paul told reporters on Monday when asked when the confirmation hearing would be. “I’m going to reserve judgment now and we’ll probably find out a lot more,” Paul told a reporter who asked for his thoughts on Mullin’s nomination. Sen. Paul says he’s aiming to hold Sen. Mullin’s DHS confirmation hearing a week from Wednesday pic.twitter.com/SXAHyGfRge— Grace Kazarian (@grace_kazarian) March 9, 2026 Paul might be tough on Mullin during the confirmation process.  After the death of Alex Pretti in a shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Paul called on DHS to “pledge to reform,” subjecting top immigration officials to tough questioning by his committee. Paul, a fiscal hawk, has also been critical of the Trump administration’s budget requests for border wall construction and law enforcement. Mullin’s chances of confirmation look promising, especially since Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., perhaps the harshest Republican critic of Noem, has called Mullin “a great guy and a great choice to lead DHS.” Noem will leave her position on March 31. A spokesperson for Mullin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The post Will Markwayne Mullin End the DHS Shutdown? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

REUTERS—Shots were fired at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto early on Tuesday, but no one was injured, police said, in what Canada’s public safety minister described as an unacceptable incident. Toronto police said on X that they responded to reports of shots at 5:29 a.m. EDT and found evidence of a discharged firearm. In another post, police said they had no information on a potential suspect. “The shooting … is absolutely unacceptable. Canada will never tolerate intimidation and violence of any kind, including towards our American friends in Canada,” Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in a post on X. In a statement, the State Department said it was aware of the incident and was closely monitoring the situation in coordination with local law enforcement. Separately, on Sunday, an improvised device exploded in Norway at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, and police were still searching for a suspect, with a possible link to the Iran war among the lines of inquiry. In New York City, two men have been charged with terrorism after throwing a homemade bomb at anti-Islam protesters over the weekend. Originally published by Reuters The post Shots Fired at US Consulate in Toronto, Ottawa Says Incident Unacceptable appeared first on The Daily Signal.