For Immediate Release: April 7, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
Washington, D.C. – Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas today stayed FDA approval of the abortion pill, to take effect in seven days pending appeal.
In a separate case, State of Washington v. United States Food and Drug Administration, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction blocking any change in the status quo on mifepristone only in the plaintiff states, but declined to issue a nationwide order.
In response, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America issued the following statement:
“Today’s decision out of Texas is a win for the health and safety of women and girls. The ruling reaffirms that pregnancy is not an illness and abortion is not health care. Finally the FDA is being held accountable for its egregious violation of its own rules to fast-track dangerous abortion drugs to market,” said SBA Pro-Life America’s State Policy Director Katie Glenn. “The abortion drug regimen rubber-stamped by the FDA has proven disastrous for women as well as unborn children, with the FDA’s own data showing women have died. The Biden FDA ignored the science and approved abortion drugs for sale by mail-order, without any in-person doctor visit, which the strong majority of Americans oppose.
“We are closely analyzing another concerning case in the Eastern District of Washington state. In the Dobbs era, the radical abortion lobby will fight tooth and nail to keep its ‘insurance policy’ of mail-order abortion pills. However, we are hopeful that two decades’ worth of reckless disregard for women’s lives from the FDA may soon be corrected.”
New, in-depth polling, conducted by CRC Research for SBA Pro-Life America and released today, shows that Americans do not believe the FDA’s assertions that mail-order abortion drugs are safe – including 75% who agree the FDA should have performed studies focused on girls under the age of 18 before approving the abortion pill for minors.
In November, a group of doctors led by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine sued the FDA for its reckless and inadequate screening of the dangerous abortion drug regimen utilizing mifepristone and its progressive removal of restrictions designed to enhance safety for women. Ingrid Skop, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., a board-certified OB-GYN who has practiced in Texas for nearly 30 years and serves as senior fellow and director of medical affairs at Charlotte Lozier Institute, said:
“I’ve performed at least a dozen surgeries on women who experienced complications due to abortion pills, including needing blood transfusions and treatment for severe infections. I’ve also counseled women who experienced significant emotional distress after viewing the body of their easily identifiable child in the toilet. Texas OB-GYNs are regularly called upon to address serious abortion pill complications that Planned Parenthood fails to treat and the FDA hasn’t even bothered to track for years. The FDA’s ‘see no evil, hear no evil, report no evil’ regime puts the life and health of women and girls at risk for the sake of a pro-abortion political agenda.”
SBA Pro-Life America and several national organizations representing pro-life doctors and health care professionals submitted an amicus brief urging the court to grant a preliminary injunction. The case is Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“A woman or girl cannot consent to a chemical abortion without knowing the specific risks that mifepristone poses to her life, health, and fertility,” SBA Pro-Life America’s brief argues. However, flaws in the clinical trials used to approve the drug, as well as ongoing deficiencies in the reporting of abortion pill-related complications, make full informed consent impossible.
Scientists and doctors from the Lozier Institute also filed an amicus brief in the case that details more than a dozen specific concerns with the FDA’s flawed approval.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser stated:
“In the Dobbs era, the abortion industry has relied on abortion pills as a backstop as more than a dozen states have enacted strong protections for unborn babies and mothers. Women deserve to know about all the life-affirming options that are available to them, including nearly 3,000 pregnancy centers and maternity homes nationwide that offer vital services at no cost, as well as safe, effective abortion pill reversal that has saved thousands of babies after their moms regretted making the terrible mistake of taking mifepristone to cause an abortion. The pro-life movement stands ready as always to serve them with compassion and respect.”
For more information about chemical abortion drugs and their dangers, visit abortiondrugfacts.com.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is a network of more than one million pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.
Charlotte Lozier Institute was launched in 2011 as the education and research arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. CLI is a hub for research and public policy analysis on some of the most pressing issues facing the United States and nations around the world. The Institute is named for a feminist physician known for her commitment to the sanctity of human life and equal career and educational opportunities for women.
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