FDA’s Procedure for Approving Abortion Pill Was Unlawful, Lawsuit Claims
Kristen Eichamer /
Abortion rights advocates and the Biden administration are sounding the alarm after the filing of a Texas lawsuit that challenges the decades-old Food and Drug Administration approval of mifepristone, the first step of the FDA’s two-pill abortion process responsible for nearly 50% of all abortions in the U.S.
In the first-of-its-kind lawsuit, four national medical associations and four doctors experienced in treating pregnant and post-abortive women argue that the FDA’s accelerated approval of the drug more than 20 years ago in 2000 was unlawful because the agency failed to abide by its legal obligations.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, a national nonprofit public interest law firm, contends that the only way the FDA was able to accelerate the approval of mifepristone is by classifying pregnancy as a “serious or life-threatening illness” for which the abortion drug provides “meaningful therapeutic benefit.”
The plaintiffs argue that with the approval of mifepristone, the FDA completely ignored the potential effects these pills have on the developing bodies of adolescent girls. They also cite what they say was the negligence of the FDA, which disregarded evidence that chemical abortion drugs cause more complications than surgical abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The institute is a pro-abortion research group that was spun off from Planned Parenthood.
“The FDA’s approval of chemical abortion drugs has always stood on shaky legal and moral ground, and after years of evading responsibility, it’s time for the government to do what it’s legally required to do: Protect the health and safety of vulnerable women and girls,” said Erik Baptist, an ADF senior counsel.
A court decision could strengthen safety measures required in the distribution of the chemical abortion drug and have left much up for question on the fate of the pill.
On today’s edition of the “Problematic Women” podcast, Sarah Parshall Perry, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, joins us as we explore the history behind the approval of this abortion drugand the implications this case has on it.
Also on today’s show, we highlight a new study from Europe that shows just how politicized the issue of gender identity has become. We’ll also bring you up to speed on what the British Medical Journal is calling “the social contagion that is consuming an increasing number of American youths.” Plus, the Energy Department concluded—albeit “with low confidence”—that a lab leak in China unleashed the COVID-19 pandemic. This change in judgment comes as top health officials prepare to testify on the federal response to the pandemic. And as always, we’ll be crowning our “Problematic Woman of the Week.”
Listen to the podcast below: