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ADF’s lawsuit puts “chemical abortion on trial”

Writing for WORLD, Daniel Suhr highlights a pending federal court case that effectively puts “chemical abortion on trial.”

In November 2022, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its authorization of the use of abortion pills, otherwise known as chemical abortion.

As ADF explained in its press release at the time:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration chose politics over science when it pushed for the legalization of the chemical abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol in 2000. The only way the FDA was able to approve the drugs was by characterizing pregnancy as an “illness” and arguing that these drugs provide a “meaningful therapeutic benefit.” As the medical groups and doctors filing suit explain, by approving chemical abortion drugs, the FDA failed to abide by its legal obligations to protect the health, safety, and welfare of girls and women. The FDA never studied the safety of the drugs under the labeled conditions of use, ignored the potential impacts of the hormone-blocking regimen on the developing bodies of adolescent girls, disregarded the substantial evidence that chemical abortion drugs cause more complications than surgical abortions, and eliminated necessary safeguards for pregnant girls and women who undergo this dangerous drug regimen.

 Then, in 2016 the FDA went further and removed safeguards that were in place by increasing the acceptable timeframe for use from 7 weeks’ to 10 weeks’ gestation, altering the dosage, decreasing the number of required in-person visits with doctors, allowing other medical professionals besides doctors to prescribe and administer the pills, and removing the requirement that non-fatal complications from the drugs be reported.

In 2021, the FDA even gave the green-light to allowing the drugs to be sent via mail, which ADF points out is in violation of federal law.

In Suhr’s piece for WORLD, he points out a number of judicial hurdles that ADF must overcome. Yet he remains optimistic:

The judge sitting on the lawsuit, Matthew Kacsmaryk, has shown judicial courage in appropriate cases in the past, earning the ire of political progressives. And the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which will hear any appeals, is considered the most conservative in the country. Kacsmaryk heard arguments in the case last week and promised to issue a ruling promptly.

Ultimately, ADF deserves kudos for bringing the case in the first place. In essence, ADF is putting chemical abortions on trial. Through this case, it is forcing a nationwide conversation on the health risks (side effects) of using these drugs, which the abortion industry touts as safe. And the case also highlights the political influence on the supposedly scientific decisions made by the FDA under ardently pro-abortion presidents. This case presents an excellent opportunity to protect women and to expose the dangers of these drugs.

FPIW will continue reporting on this lawsuit.

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