President Ronald Reagan once famously quipped, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
This quote resonates with most Americans because of our general distrust of government authorities. In many cases, it’s true that government “help” is just the opposite.
In 2016 and again in 2021, the Food and Drug Administration made significant changes to safety standards surrounding chemical abortion drugs, causing more harm than good to an already high-risk drug regimen. When the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, where I serve as a board member, tried to warn the FDA that it was endangering women’s health by eliminating these safety standards, we were ignored.
With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, we sued the FDA for recklessly abandoning women, and the Supreme Court just heard that case — U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine.
The effects of abortion drugs are particularly brutal and traumatizing. The drugs involve a two-step process: Mifepristone is used to block a hormone necessary to maintain early pregnancy, and misoprostol is taken one to two days later, which causes the uterus to contract and expel the fetus and placenta. The process involves severe pain, heavy bleeding, and, quite often, the trauma of seeing a recognizable baby. And that’s if the drugs work as intended. By the FDA’s own admission — as evidenced by the agency’s warning label on the drug — one in 25 women could require emergency medical treatment.
One woman was given the drugs, and soon after starting the abortion, a sharp pain overtook her abdomen. The abortion provider assured her that the pain she felt was normal. Still, after two weeks, her blood pressure dropped to dangerous levels. In the hospital, the treating physician found evidence of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy (where the pregnancy implants outside the uterus) that severely damaged her pelvis, which was filled with pus and scar tissue.
Another woman was told by her abortion providers that taking the drugs would be as “easy as taking Tylenol,” but after bleeding profusely, she passed a recognizable baby and was left alone to flush the deceased child down the toilet.
Why are these women being left alone to deal with the trauma of these dangerous drugs? Because of the reckless changes the FDA made.
In 2016, the FDA removed two of the original three in-person doctor visits, extended use of the abortion drugs up to 70 days gestation, and removed the requirement that prescribers report severe complications, except death. Then, in 2021, the FDA eliminated requirements for the last in-person office visit that was meant to ensure that women do not have an ectopic pregnancy and other life-threatening conditions before taking the drugs.
In obstetrics, a woman’s due date is changed based on her early ultrasound 40 percent of the time, but without the safeguards the FDA once had in place, many women now receive abortion drugs with no accurate assessment of their child’s gestational age. Thus, women are at risk of taking abortion drugs later in pregnancy, when complications are significantly increased.
Women and girls deserve care from a doctor when taking high-risk drugs, which is why we were compelled to challenge the FDA for its negligent and dangerous decisions. When we sued the FDA, abortion providers worked hard to twist the narrative in their favor — all while more women are needing emergency treatment.
Rather than standing up for women’s health, The New England Journal of Medicine published an article accusing us of “attacking” the FDA and “regulatory authority” and saying that we are “weaponiz(ing) their professional privilege of contact with strangers seeking medical help in ways that … should shock the conscience of the medical profession.”
Of course, when we took the Hippocratic Oath, we swore to protect our patients from all harm, including calling out damaging regulatory decisions.
Abortion providers are not fighting to protect women; they want to protect their bottom line. What should shock the conscience of the medical profession is the way the FDA has allowed doctors to walk away and leave women alone without in-person, ongoing care. The Supreme Court has an opportunity to hold the agency accountable.
