The massive increases in prescription and over the counter (OTC) drug usage means that we are exposing our water supplies to soaring levels of chemicals. “More than 4,000 prescription medications utilized for human and animal health end up in the environment.”(1) It is a common belief that these contaminants solely originate from pharmaceutical companies; however, they also stem from human and animal sources. After you flush the toilet, the unused medicine from your body enters either a sewage system which goes to local wastewater treatment plants, or a septic system where it may be dumped on farmland or released into the ground.

Most wastewater treatment plants can’t filter out all those chemicals. And they aren’t legally required to remove pharmaceuticals.(2) What’s left in the water ends up going out into the local environment (lakes, rivers, wildlife) and back into the public drinking water.(3)

Contaminated?

One of the worst types of medical pollutants is synthetic hormones. These endocrine-disrupting drugs, like contraceptives and abortifacients (AKA abortion pills), interfere with reproduction in fish and reduce chlorophyll in local algae, making it harder for the algae to get sufficient nutrients. Studies show that these endocrine disruptors also pose serious risks to endangered species.(4)

These synthetic hormones are more dangerous than natural ones for humans and animals because they don’t break down quickly. Plus, they’re more hydrophobic, meaning they won’t dissolve into water easily, unlike natural hormones. Synthetic hormones can't be diluted to a safe level.(5)

In humans, drinking these pollutants in our tap water is linked to all sorts of harmful things, including an increased risk of certain types of cancer and secondhand sterility.(6) In fish, these hormones can impact fertility for three generations(7) — We swallow these pollutants with each glass of water we drink.

Flushed Down the Drain

Medical Waste Regulations vs. At Home Abortions

Surgical abortions are usually performed in medical facilities or clinics and can be done through all nine months of a pregnancy depending on local, state, or federal laws. There are several different procedures for surgical abortions, but they all result in the unborn baby being torn apart and removed from the womb. These human remains, along with the placenta and fluids that are passed after an abortion, are considered pathological and large tissue wastes. In a medical setting, they would “require incineration rather than sterilization as a final treatment,”(8) and would be put in a yellow bag for disposal.

The chemical abortion process is usually done at home with abortion pills and is described as “really heavy, crampy period, and the process is very similar to an early miscarriage.”(9) The FDA says chemical abortions can be performed up to 10 weeks after fertilization with the baby being about two inches in size (see image). The push for tele-health prescription abortions means that these abortions are not being performed in medical facilities that can safely handle and dispose of the human remains.(10)

During this form of abortion, women who take abortion pills at home "are very likely to pass the remains of [the] pregnancy into the toilet."(11) Unlike a medical facility with yellow bag waste rules, the baby, placenta, blood, and amniotic fluid get flushed down the drain. Wastewater treatment plants and septic systems aren't equipped to remove human remains, large tissues, or pharmaceuticals.