Over the past few weeks, we have discussed at length the dangers of the abortion pill mifepristone and the manifold injuries it has caused to women and young girls since the FDA approved it in 2000. In 2016, the FDA put even more women in danger by eliminating most restrictions on the drug and allowing the pill to be obtained by mail. Since that time, the use of mifepristone has skyrocketed and now over 60% of all abortions are done using abortion drugs. As a result, more babies are being killed – and more women and girls are showing up in emergency rooms with mifepristone-induced injuries.
All the while, the FDA and the abortion industry insist that abortion pills are “safe” and “easy.”
As emergency room physicians are faced with abortion pill complications, they often have to remove the dismembered parts of unborn children or otherwise finish incomplete chemical abortions. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a group of pro-life physicians, sued the FDA and mifepristone manufacturer Danco to reverse the approval of mifepristone or at least reinstate the original restrictive protocol for dispensing the drug.
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Alliance of Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA next Tuesday, March 26. Life Legal filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of doctors who are forced to participate in abortion because of the FDA’s negligence in abolishing mifepristone safeguards. This begs the question: how has the abortion industry gotten away with advertising mifepristone’s “safety” for nearly a quarter century?
When mifepristone was originally approved in 2000, the FDA required all prescribers to report serious adverse events (AEs) to manufacturers, who in turn reported them to the FDA. These reports are available to the public online in the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). In 2016, as part of its sweeping deregulation of mifepristone, the FDA removed the reporting mandate and only required fatal adverse events to be reported. Consequently, we only have records of a fraction of mifepristone injuries, leaving the abortion industry free to deceive women seeking the pill.
The FDA’s cozy partnership with abortionists began long before 2016. Even when the FDA required reporting of all adverse events, the FAERS did not demonstrate the scope of the drug’s harm. In 2009 and 2010, for example, Planned Parenthood alone reported 1,530 adverse events caused by mifepristone. Those same years, the FAERS recorded only 664 adverse events from all providers in the United States, not just Planned Parenthood. Moreover, only half of the reports were available to be obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. This discrepancy is evidence of the FDA’s tendency to underreport mifepristone injuries, meaning the FAERS is not a reliable indicator of mifepristone’s safety.
Life Legal has filed many Freedom of Information Act requests with the FDA, and the results are sobering. Since 2000, women have reported a range of injuries caused by mifepristone, from infection to excessive bleeding to death. Regardless of the specific injury, every report is a testament to the danger of mifepristone – and the failure of the FDA. Countless death reports reveal that abortion clinics downplayed the risks and side effects of the drug while offering minimal support to mothers experiencing life-threatening complications after taking mifepristone.
For twenty-four years, the FDA has used the FAERS to justify expanding the distribution of mifepristone. The Biden Administration allows abortion pills to be prescribed over the phone and shipped through the mail, virtually ensuring that the drugs will be sent to minors, often without their parents’ knowledge and in violation of state laws. Young girls are especially vulnerable to the dangers of abortion pills. And of course, the youngest of all are targeted by the FDA for destruction.
Please pray for wisdom for the Supreme Court justices as they hear the case. The ruling could result in limiting access to abortion drugs, which would save countless lives.
Thank you for standing with Life Legal to expose the lie that abortion drugs are “safe.” Thank you for standing with us to denounce the FDA’s attempt to make the killing of innocent human beings “easy.” We are grateful for your faithful prayers and generous support.