WASHINGTON, DC— The Supreme Court granted the government’s request to reinstate FDA rules protecting the health and safety of women seeking chemical abortion pills. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of abortion doctors sued the FDA in an attempt to send abortion pills by mail without seeing patients in person.
One district judge in Maryland, in the name of a “constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy,” invalidated twenty years of federal government agency policy across the entire country when he enjoined the “in-person dispensing requirement” last summer. The FDA appealed to the Supreme Court to restore the in-person dispensing requirement, the rule that requires a certified physician administer Mifepristone directly to the patient in person.
Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel at Americans United for Life, stated:
Removing the in-person dispensing requirement increased the risk of serious health complications and the likelihood that the drug would be misused. The district court erroneously presumed the safety of Mifeprex despite two decades of recorded complications, including deaths. Fortunately, the Supreme Court recognizes that the appropriate process in evaluating the merits of this case requires that the regulations remain in place while the case is decided. Americans United for Life was proud to work with Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS) and Representative Bob Latta (OH-05) who led 102 Members of Congress in urging the courts to reinstate the FDA’s rules, recognizing the dangers posed by abandoning women to suffer through the physical and psychological impact of chemical abortion without medical supervision or support.
The Fourth Circuit will hear arguments in the case in 2021.
Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization that holds the distinction of being the first national pro-life organization in America—incorporated in 1971. It protects and defends human life from conception to natural death through vigorous legislative, judicial, and educational efforts.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES, CONTACT
NOAH BRANDT, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
press@aul.org or 202-741-4921
