For Immediate Release: April 13, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
Landmark Abortion Pill Case Likely Headed to SCOTUS
Washington, D.C. – The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed in part with last week’s Northern District of Texas decision regarding the abortion pill, and blocked part, pending appeal.
The stay granted by the 5th Circuit pertains only to the FDA’s approval of mifepristone in 2000, not to its subsequent loosening of safety standards on the abortion pill in later years.
The Court wrote that the abortion lobby failed to show that the plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their timely challenges, and also failed to show “that FDA’s actions were not arbitrary and capricious…FDA failed to ‘examine the relevant data’ when it made the 2016 Major REMS changes. That’s because FDA eliminated REMS safeguards based on studies that included those very safeguards” (internal citations omitted).
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s State Policy Director Katie Daniel reacted:
“We are very encouraged by this landmark win for women and girls. The Court recognized that the abortion pill is dangerous and rolled back Biden’s reckless mail-order abortion scheme. We still believe it never should have been approved in the first place and we look forward to the Supreme Court hearing this case.
“The FDA has one job: safeguarding the lives and health of Americans. The evidence clearly shows their failure when it comes to the abortion pill. First, the FDA inappropriately fast-tracked this dangerous drug for approval without studying its effects in teenage girls. Then under the Obama and Biden administrations, they loosened one safety standard after another – finally approving mail-order abortion drugs and ignoring the critical importance of in-person doctor supervision – and stonewalled those who sought accountability. The rate of abortion pill-related emergency room visits has skyrocketed over 500% since it was approved, while the drug manufacturers have made a handsome profit – with investors reaping a 452% return on average.
“The FDA ignored science and placed politics over the safety of women and girls, as well as the lives of countless unborn children. Finally they are beginning to be held accountable.”
In-depth polling conducted by CRC Research for SBA Pro-Life America 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.
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 vice president and director of medical affairs at Charlotte Lozier Institute, said:
“Pregnancy is not an illness. Children are our future. These are things the vast majority of Americans agree on – except for the FDA, which ditched common sense, ignored its own rules and bypassed important safeguards when approving the abortion pill…the FDA put politics ahead of science, putting women and girls at risk.”
SBA Pro-Life America and several national organizations representing pro-life doctors and health care professionals submitted an amicus brief in the case urging the court to grant a preliminary injunction. 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.
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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SBA Pro-Life America's mission is to end abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders. Your secure gift today will help to advance a culture of life and protect unborn children and their mothers from abortion.
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