FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Matt Hadrohumancoalition@pinkston.co
WASHINGTON, DC, March 26, 2024 – Human Coalition on Tuesday implored the Supreme Court to ensure the FDA fulfills its duty of protecting women from the harms of abortion pills.
Chelsey Youman, National Director of Public Policy for Human Coalition, appeared with other pro-life leaders outside the court during oral arguments in the case of Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. The justices heard arguments from the pro-life medical community, challenging the Biden administration’s removal of abortion drug safety regulations – including its allowance of mail-order abortion pills.
“Today represents a monumental moment in the post-Roe world. A moment that will determine just how far society is willing to go to provide abortion on demand, at any cost. The FDA has spent the last few years eradicating every single protection women had, isolating them from in person care with a doctor, follow up care for their complications, and failing to bother even to ensure they know what they will see, feel and experience during their abortions,” Youman stated. “At Human Coalition, we see firsthand the damage chemical abortion has wrought on the physical and mental health of women.”
“Women have called our pregnancy centers panicking, saying they were not warned about the painful side effects of the abortion pill regimen. They are not prepared for the trauma of seeing the remains of their child. Abortion providers tell them that it will be an ‘easy process,’ a ‘quick recovery,’ and is ‘like taking over-the-counter meds.’ Yet these women tell us: ‘I had no idea that the pill was going to be as painful as it was;’ ‘I bled way more than I was told.’”
“Abusers and human traffickers are predictably taking advantage of mail-order abortion by smuggling these deadly drugs,” Youman said. “There are so many stories of men who poisoned their wives or girlfriends with abortion drugs that are now easier than ever to get. We refuse to turn a blind eye to the women and children left suffering at the hands of their abusers.”
“We get to decide who we want to be,” Youman said. “May we choose hope and healing instead of more destruction. May we choose compassion and support for mothers seeking abortion instead of sacrificing them to this regime of death.
The Fifth Circuit in August 2023 required the FDA to reinstate some safety regulations that the agency previously rolled back, including: that drugs be prescribed and dispensed in-person, by a physician, in a health clinic setting, limited to use by seven weeks gestation, and that there be mandatory reporting of non-fatal adverse effects of the pills. The Biden administration appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in the case on March 26.
In a joint friend-of-the-court brief filed at the Supreme Court, Human Coalition, the National Association of Evangelicals and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) argue that women are hurt by the FDA’s recklessness, as the agency’s label for mifepristone reports a 1-in-25 hospitalization rate for chemical abortion. Their brief includes the heart wrenching stories of Human Coalition clients who suffered serious and life-threatening complications from the abortion pill.
In a recent survey of likely voters in swing states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, nearly eight-in-ten respondents (78%) said that “Women and girls should have the ongoing care of a doctor when taking high-risk drugs.” The FDA in 2016 waived the requirement that abortion pills be prescribed and administered by a physician.
In the survey, three-fourths of respondents also said that “No young girl should have an abortion all alone, without medical assistance or even an in-person visit with a doctor.” The FDA in 2016 waived the requirement for an in-person follow-up appointment, and in 2021 did away with the requirement that the pills be dispensed in-person.
About Human CoalitionHuman Coalition is one of the largest pro-life, pro-woman, and pro-family organizations in the country, committed to making abortion unthinkable and unnecessary. Founded in 2009, Human Coalition has grown from a simple internet outreach idea into a comprehensive care network that reaches women facing unexpected pregnancies, rescues innocent preborn children from abortion, and restores families to stability.