Though research continues to show that abortion drugs pose a deadly danger to preborn babies and their mothers, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rolled back its guardrails of protection for women. The drugs were once permitted through the first seven weeks of pregnancy, but in recent months, without scientific support, that window has been extended. The regimen is now legally allowed through 10 weeks.
Women are four times more likely to experience complications from a chemical abortion than they are from a surgical abortion. But with "no tracking of complications," Jennifer Popik of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) says the federal agency is keeping the public in the dark.
"We've seen women hemorrhaging; we've seen increased visits to emergency rooms," she reports. "Meanwhile, the FDA turns a blind eye and says nothing to see here and continues to expand these drugs, even permitting them in the mail by telemed."
Representative Bob Good's (R-Virginia) recent attempt to penalize prominent FDA officials with amendments to reduce their salaries to $1 failed, but Popik is not concerned that 50-60 Republicans voted against that.
"At the end of the day, reducing their salaries wouldn't have solved our problem," she asserts. "It was a good moment for the representative to go out on the floor and talk about the dangers of chemical abortions, but reducing salaries wouldn't have fixed the problem."
Ahead of the vote on September 27, Planned Parenthood Action Fund sent a letter to members of the House urging them to vote against Good's proposed amendments.
"Planned Parenthood opposes Good Amendments #85, #90-95 and will consider a NO vote on these amendments a vote in support of sexual and reproductive health and rights," the letter states.
Though the amendments failed, LifeNews.com regards Good's proposal as an effort to address the FDA's negligence in hastily approving mifepristone in 2000, and Popik thinks the agency at least got the message.
So as the FDA faces a lawsuit over its failure to ensure mifepristone's safety before approving it, Popik is pleased that pro-lifers in Congress continue to work on getting pro-life bills passed.
