TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PUSHING AT-HOME ABORTION BAN
NEWS: US NEWS
Petitions Supreme Court to reinstate abortion pill regulation
WASHINGTON (ChurchMilitant.com) - At-home abortion is at the center of a battle brewing between Trump officials and various pro-abortion groups.
The Justice Department on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to restore a ban on giving an abortion pill to mothers who don't visit a facility.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 20 years ago placed restrictions on the abortion pill Mifeprex and its approved generic version. The restrictions make it illegal to sell the drug in retail pharmacies and over the internet. According to the FDA, Mifeprex must "be dispensed in certain health care settings, specifically, clinics, medical offices and hospitals, by or under the supervision of a certified prescriber."
Seeking abortion on demand without restrictions, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other pro-abortion organizations used the Wuhan virus — which limited access to some legitimate medical procedures — as a pretext to sue the FDA and the Health and Human Services Department in May.
On July 13, federal district court judge Theodore Chuang ruled in their favor.
"By causing certain patients to decide between forgoing or substantially delaying abortion care, or risking exposure to COVID-19 for themselves, their children and family members, the in-person requirements [of accessing the abortion drug] present a serious burden to many abortion patients," Chuang said in the ruling.
But the Trump Administration is pushing back, arguing in its petition to the Supreme Court:
The circumstances here — in which a single district court, presented with a suit by a single physician and a handful of organizations, displaced the FDA's scientific judgment with respect to every medication provider in the country — illustrate the problems with allowing district courts to award relief untethered to the established injuries of the specific plaintiffs before them.
While the case proceeds, the administration asked that the ban remain in place.
Pro-life Groups Weigh In
"The abortion pill's only purpose is to end the lives of preborn human beings," Jim Sedlak, executive director of American Life League, told Church Militant.
"In any sane society, it would be banned," he continued. "Until that happens, the Trump Administration's efforts to restore controls on its distribution, taken away by an activist judge, will at least thwart racist Planned Parenthood's efforts to turn every American home into a baby-killing facility."
"However, the long-range goal of the Trump Administration must be the eradication of this deadly pill," concluded Sedlak.
Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life said, "We shouldn't have to go to court to defend health and safety standards endorsed by the FDA so that women won't die or be harmed by chemical abortion pills, but here we are again in court, thanks in part to the ACLU."
"The Trump Administration's proactive petition represents just what pro-life Americans expect from their government — a commitment to mothers and their children, born and preborn," she added.
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser expressed gratitude to the Trump administration.
"These proven safeguards are reasonable and necessary and put the safety of women and young girls over the profits of the abortion industry," she said in a statement. "Chemical abortion poses serious complications for women that can include heavy bleeding, intense and prolonged pain, infection and even death."
Seeing the pandemic differently than Judge Chuang, Dannenfelser said, "During this time of crisis for our nation, pregnant women deserve protection from these dangerous drugs. We stand with President Trump and ask that the High Court take this petition seriously and act wisely. The lives of countless women and children are at risk."
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