WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jon Husted questioned witnesses at a Senate hearing Wednesday about cases where men allegedly slipped mifepristone to women without their consent, citing examples from Ohio and Texas to argue for reinstating in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion drug.

“I’ve seen some of the horrors of men who are trying to use the drug to end pregnancies against the will of the woman that they give the drug to,” Husted told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee during its hearing titled “Protecting Women’s Health: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs.”

“This is not the choice of a woman controlling her own body,” he said.

Ohio case among examples cited

Husted presented two cases to illustrate his concerns, including one where Toledo-area doctor Hassan-James Abbas was indicted after he was accused of obtaining the drug from an out-of-state telemedicine provider and used it to secretly end his girlfriend’s pregnancy.

Abbas is accused of ordering mifepristone and misoprostol after the woman said she didn’t want an abortion by using his estranged wife’s identity and then forcing them into the woman’s mouth while she slept. His license to practice medicine has been suspended.

Husted also cited a 2025 Texas case where a man is accused of obtaining mifepristone and slipping it into the hot chocolate of a woman he had impregnated, and who was refusing to get an abortion.

Senator’s personal connection

Husted opened his questioning by sharing his own adoption story, which he has discussed publicly before.

“I started out in foster care, was adopted, and know that my birth mother was under a lot of pressure to have an abortion, and thankfully for me, she didn’t,” the Republican senator said. “I know that my biological father had pressured her to do so, and she chose an adoption.”

He said reflecting on his background made him question whether he would exist today if mifepristone had been as easily accessible when his birth mother was pregnant. “I would like to think that my birth mother would have still chosen to have an adoption, but I’ve seen some of the horrors of men who are trying to use the drug to end pregnancies against the will of the woman that they give the drug to,” he said.

Question of access vs. safety

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a witness at the hearing, told Husted that putting an in-person dispensing requirement in place would address the problem.

Murrill responded that Louisiana believes “putting the in-person dispensing requirement back in place would substantially protect women.” She noted that Louisiana has placed the drugs on its state controlled substances list “so that we can track who’s prescribing them and make sure that there’s some accountability for the use of these medications.”

The hearing featured sharply contrasting testimony about mifepristone’s safety and the impact of FDA regulations governing its distribution.

In her written testimony, Murrill argued that the Biden administration’s 2023 decision to remove in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone was “not a legal or medically-informed decision, but a purely political one.”

She presented cases from Louisiana where she said women were harmed by mail-order abortion drugs, including a teenager allegedly coerced by her mother and cases where women experienced medical emergencies.

Testimony from Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst, an Adjunct Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, outlined various complications associated with medication abortion and argued that “telemedicine abortion” and “self-administered abortion are unsafe and endanger women.”

However, Dr. Nisha Verma of Physicians for Reproductive Health stated that “the science on mifepristone’s safety and effectiveness is longstanding and settled,” noting the drug “has been rigorously researched and proven safe and effective in hundreds of high-quality, peer-reviewed studies.”

She testified that serious adverse events with medication abortion “are very rare, consistently occurring in well under one percent of cases.”

People like to say America doesn’t make things anymore. Some folks even believe that’s a good thing. There’s no better way to prove them wrong than a trip to the Ohio cities of Clyde and Marion. As our nation seeks to bring more production back home, Northwest Ohio is living proof that — with a talented workforce, a level playing field and business leaders committed to the local economy — the best days for American manufacturing are yet to come.

Even as some companies took factories and jobs overseas, manufacturing has remained the beating heart of the Buckeye State. Across Ohio, manufacturing is responsible for nearly a fifth of our state’s GDP. The manufacturing sector here has been steadily growing over the last several years, now employing more than 680,000 workers. Since the pandemic, Ohio has added 100,000 manufacturing jobs, and the sector now boasts the highest payroll of any industry in the state.

This resurgence is particularly visible in our communities. In November, we were honored to stand alongside Whirlpool Corp. as it marked its 114th anniversary after announcing a $300 million investment in its U.S. laundry operations in both Clyde and Marion the prior month. That investment will create up to 600 new jobs between our two cities, and it sends a clear message that reaches far beyond Ohio: America still knows how to build.

In Clyde, you see that pride in people like Mike Monday, who has worked at the plant for 45 years without missing a single day. Or Jason Alejandro, a third-generation Whirlpool employee who joined the company after eight years serving in the U.S. Air Force and just celebrated his 19th anniversary at the Clyde factory.

In Marion, it lives in the lives of nearly 2,000 employees, including Angel Siebold, a single mother who started wiring machines on the shop floor 22 years ago and has been promoted through the ranks to where she now leads operations at the company’s second-largest facility. Her story, like so many others in Ohio, shows how opportunity grows when companies invest in people and people invest back.

None of this is an accident. Clyde and Marion have spent decades building the foundation where manufacturing can thrive. We’ve built infrastructure that helps keep supply chains moving and workers connected. Our regional partnerships — with JobsOhio, One Columbus, and the Regional Growth Partnership — helped make this investment possible.

Our goal has been simple: Create places where industry and people can grow together. We’ve focused on creating a smart, sustainable economic environment that good employers want to be a part of, so they can hire our neighbors, invest in our communities and give our kids a reason to stay. Companies like Whirlpool have noticed that commitment and met it with their own.

That’s the ripple effect of trust between companies and communities. When a company puts down roots and keeps faith with its people, those roots deepen. Loyalty, earned over decades, pays dividends in skill, reliability and pride.

Clyde and Marion are proud to be part of that story and determined to keep writing it. Our communities and partners stand as proof that American manufacturing is not fading, but a cornerstone that supports families and sustains our country’s promise.

In an age when so much feels uncertain, we still believe that when America builds at home, we create hope and opportunity. If you want to know where manufacturing is headed, look to Clyde, Marion and the places across Ohio where it never left.

Doug McCauley is the mayor of Clyde, Ohio, and Bill Collins is the mayor of Marion, Ohio.

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AKRON, Ohio (WOIO) – High tech police drones are responding quickly to emergencies, offering a bird’s-eye view from the skies. And their use by local police departments is taking off.

Police in northeast Ohio believe using ‘drones as first responders’ will make the community safer and protect their officers too.

19 Investigates got a rare look behind the scenes to show you how it works and how drones can be deployed without an officer on scene.

Skydio, headquartered in California, makes these drones.

They brought a “demo dock” to Akron police to show us how dock-based drones work and allow drones to respond immediately to calls.

“It’s all about safety. We’re all about making the officers more safe, making the community more safe. And that’s really the end goal here,” said Noreen Charlton.

Charlton leads public safety strategy for Skydio.

She said police officers don’t have to be expert drone pilots to operate them.

That’s why they built a drone that is easy to fly.

“So the Skydio drones are constantly building the environment around themselves so that they know where they are flying and you can confidently fly without having to worry about crashing,” Charlton said.

Drones as first responders

Charlton believes “drones as first responders” is changing policing.

Officers responding to emergencies don’t have to fly a drone on their own anymore if their agency uses a dock-based system that houses and launches the drones from locations across a city.

Instead, they can rely on other officers who remotely control the drones from a command center set up at police headquarters or another location.

Police departments in cities across the country are installing these docks, which pair with the drones Skydio manufactures.

“We’re getting the drone in the air and overhead in less than two minutes, which means that the responding officers can watch this live stream from the drone while they are en route to the call,” Charlton said.

Charlton said that ability is providing officers better situational awareness when they arrive on scene.

“They can slow down, they can make better tactical decisions, and this is leading to the ability to de-escalate situations and reducing potential use of force,” she said.

She said faster response times using drones are even capturing crime in progress.

“We’re getting video evidence of that, which is leading to faster case resolution and holding people accountable for the crimes that they’re committing in these communities,” Charlton said.

There are also smaller drones for flying inside.

Skydio said these drones gives officers eyes inside before they enter a building.

Drone docks in action

We watched a demonstration of how the drone docks work from the top of the roof of the Akron police headquarters, a high-rise building towering over South High Street.

This was a ‘demo dock’ set up temporarily by SkyDio.

A drone sat inside of the dock while the police drone pilots operated it from a command center several floors below.

The dock started beeping and opened and the drone readied for takeoff, its blades spinning.

After a simple command, it lifted up into the sky over the city and traveled to wherever police needed it to go.

“With the click of a button, the drone is flying there on its own. The officer can take over at any point,” Charlton said. “There is always an operator or a pilot in a chair somewhere, a dispatch center or a real-time crime center that is controlling the drone.”

Drones can come back to the dock when they need to charge. Another drone can be sent out in the meantime if a call comes in.

Law enforcement agencies can place docks like this where they get the most calls for service.

The drones have red and blue lights so it’s clear they are operated by law enforcement, Charlton said. They also have speakers to talk to people.

They can fly in extreme heat and cold and handle windy conditions.

Akron police advancing drone program

Akron police have seven drones with 20 pilots right now and four more drones on the way.

The drones have been used to chase suspects, help with search and rescue missions and missing children investigations.

Lt. Michael Murphy with Akron police said drones have been a game changer.

They believe it will reduce violent crime in the city and keep officers safe too.

“It makes this job much safer for our officers because it gives us the ability to view things without having to put the officers in danger, in harm’s way,” Murphy said.

Akron police are not operating the drones with docks yet.

They said they hope to rollout at least three docks in the city this year for their next steps in their “Drones as First Responders” (DFR) program.

They said they already have all of the required FAA waivers and are looking into grants to help pay for them.

Akron police said the drones cost about $15-16,000.

Ohio agencies using Skydio drones

Six law enforcement agencies in Ohio use Skydio drones including Cleveland police.

Cleveland police said they have nine Skydio drones and seven pilots with their FAA certification and they’re considering getting the docks in the future.

Cincinnati police is the only agency in Ohio using dock-based drones right now, according to Skydio.

The company serves more than 800 public safety agencies across the country.

Privacy concerns addressed

Some citizens and experts have concerns about police drones, from privacy to surveillance.

The American Civil Liberties Union recognizes “drones have many beneficial uses” for police but recommends proper regulation and safeguards. The organization suggests limiting drone usage to incidents involving warrants, emergencies or specific crime evidence collection.

And when it comes to data retention, the ACLU recommends agencies only save images that may contain evidence of a crime or are relevant to an ongoing investigation or trial.

We asked SkyDio about these privacy concerns.

“Most agencies are developing policies around their DFR program being specifically for response to calls for service,” Noreen Charlton said. “So the community members calling in something to 911 and then using the drone for that and being very explicit about not using them for surveillance,” she said.

Many police agencies using drones maintain transparency dashboards showing flight information to the public. Cleveland police operates a transparency dashboard you can see here.

Akron Police do not have a dashboard, but they said they have plans for one in the near future.

Need an investigation? Contact 19 Investigates with your request.

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