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FIRST ON FOX — Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is alleging that a Biden-era drug policy enabled a “hell on earth tragedy” to be inflicted on one of his constituents and is calling on the Department of Justice to step in and ensure nothing like it ever happens again.
Ohio doctor Hassan Abbas was sentenced earlier this month for identity fraud and deception to obtain a dangerous drug after prosecutors claimed that he used his estranged wife’s personal information to obtain abortion pills via the mail and force-fed them to his girlfriend, a former patient, after she revealed her pregnancy. The woman says that she did not want to have an abortion and claims she was held down by Abbas as he forced the pills on her.
“I write to you today, Attorney General Blanche, to respectfully request that you do everything in your power to ensure this depravity never happens again to a woman and their unborn child,” Moreno wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
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“My constituent was held down and force-fed crushed-up mail-order abortion pills. When she finally physically escaped, she rushed to the hospital where she began hemorrhaging,” he continued. “Unsurprisingly, reckless Biden-era mail-in abortion policies are responsible for this hell-on-earth tragedy.”
The policy in question is a 2023 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy change initiated by the Biden administration’s FDA that allowed mifepristone, an oral drug used to induce abortion, to be prescribed via telehealth and sent through the mail. Moreno argues that because Abbas was able to obtain the drugs remotely rather than through the previous requirement that mifepristone be dispensed in person at a clinic, medical office or hospital, he was able to use his estranged wife’s identity to obtain the medication.
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Senator Bernie Moreno, a Republican from Ohio, during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC on Wednesday, June 17. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Without ever setting foot inside a pharmacy, Mr. Abbas procured the mail-order abortion drugs fraudulently using his estranged wife’s name,” the senator wrote. “It is hard for me to imagine a wickedness more significant than this.”
Louisiana is currently challenging the Biden-era FDA rule in court, arguing that the agency improperly removed the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone. The case remains ongoing, with the current rules still in effect.
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Packet of Misoprostol abortion pills (SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty Images)
In his letter, Moreno calls on Attorney General Todd Blanche to “act quickly to conclude the Louisiana v. FDA case such that the in-person dispensing in a medical setting requirement is reinstated as the FDA continues its critical safety review of the drugs.”
Abbas ultimately received a plea deal, resulting in just six months of jail time and two years of probation, an outcome that the senator found unacceptable.
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“What makes this even worse is that Mr. Hassan Abbas was only sentenced to six months of jail time and two years of probation. How can someone commit a crime so vile and only receive six months of jail time?” he wrote. “I respectfully ask that the Department of Justice review this case and consider if there are federal charges that should be brought.”