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When it comes to high-risk abortion drugs, the FDA hasn’t done its job. The FDA betrayed women when it removed the in-person doctor visits and ongoing care it originally deemed necessary for the use of abortion drugs. Since 2016, the agency has scrapped nearly every safety measure (including in-person doctor visits for women, only allowing a doctor to prescribe the drugs, and reporting all serious complications), acknowledging that women harmed by these drugs would need to rely on overcrowded emergency rooms and conceding that studies used to justify the decision were “not adequate.” This has left women to have abortions at home without the care and supervision of a physician. It also violates rights of conscience by forcing emergency room doctors to finish abortions started with abortion drugs at home. The FDA traded women’s health and rights of conscience to advance a pro-abortion political agenda. We need protections in place for girls and women, and the FDA has recklessly endangered women’s health. Just recently, the Guttmacher Institute reported that 63% of abortions in the country are using abortion drugs. However, these abortion drugs are not simple dosages of Advil or Tylenol. In contrast, they can be incredibly painful experiences, and also lead to a lonely and traumatic experience of giving birth to one’s dead child. Britney Spears claimed “to this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.” Unfortunately, as we noted in our op-ed, 1 out of 25 women who use this method end up in the emergency room. Now is not a time to recklessly endanger women’s health by removing safety standards the FDA once provided.
(Click here to check out some of the photos and videos from the #WomensHealthMatters rally) Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. At the heart of it is addressing the question of whether to require the FDA to honor its duty to protect women’s health and reinstate its safety standards. In response, our Executive Director, Tami Fitzgerald, and our Donor Relations Officer, Chloe Howe, were at the steps of the Supreme Court with pro-life leaders and doctors from across the country rallying against the FDA’s pro-abortion politicking, and in favor of women’s health. Tami was even able to sit in the courtroom and hear the arguments of both sides of the case. Justices seemed concerned about whether the doctors who brought the case on behalf of their patients have standing (i.e. a real injury) and whether there are actual violations of their conscience. Abortion doctors have sued on behalf of their patients for years, so it would only make sense that pro-life doctors could do the same, especially when they are actually protecting the health and safety of the women who use abortion drugs. We hope you join us in praying for the Justices on the Supreme Court as they consider this very important case and the impact its outcome will have on women and their unborn children. For more information on FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, make sure to check out this amicus brief filed by our sister organization, the Institute for Faith and Family (IFF). You can also check out this speech we prepared for the rally, as well as photos and 1-on-1 video interviews with lawyers and doctors involved in the case.
In gratitude, Tami & Team |
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