One such brief was filed by the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
For AAPLOG, the brief had the dual purpose of encouraging the Court while also refuting the narrative that use of the abortion drug Mifepristone carries only remote risk.
AAPLOG needed to file this brief to show “that there are OBGYNs who are not afraid to tell the truth about Mifepristone and about drug-induced abortion,” Dr. Donna Harrison, director of research for the group, said on “Washington Watch” Friday.
Commonly listed side effects include bleeding and spotting, cramping and pelvic pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, fever or chillis, fatigue or weakness.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, there can also be serious complications such as prolonged bleeding, bacterial infection, Sepsis, allergic reactions, the need for surgery following an incomplete abortion, and even death.
While that legal battle unfolds, Elizabeth Gillette last week told “Washington Watch” she is sharing her own experience with mifepristone because she wants to warn other women of its danger.
“This is not a safe drug. This is not like taking Tylenol for a headache,” Gillette, referring to a common claim from pro-abortion groups about mifepristone, told the program.
“I ended up taking the medication and having a full labor and abortion at home, in my bathroom, in which I bled profusely,” she recalled. “I thought that I would die from the blood and the extreme pain.”
Pause on Fifth Circuit ruling expires today
Louisiana sued the FDA, arguing that Biden-era rules expanding access to abortion pills by mail undermine state abortion bans and pose safety concerns.
Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked mail-order and telehealth distribution of Mifepristone, reinstating older rules requiring in-person prescribing.
The Supreme Court on May temporarily paused the Fifth Circuit ruling, allowing telehealth prescriptions and mailing of the drug to continue while the Court considers the emergency appeals. That pause expires today.
The current Court discussion involves whether Louisiana has standing to pursue the case. If the Court eventually agrees to hear the full case on the merits, arguments would probably occur during the Court’s next term, with a final decision potentially coming in 2027
Gillette submitted written testimony to Congress earlier this year.
In spite of such noted possible side effects and graphic personal testimony from a woman who experienced these effects, the “safe drug” narrative persists.
The AAPLOG brief takes to task a rival organization, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
“ACOG was saying that abortion is safe, and we showed that abortion is not safe,” Harrison told “Washington Watch” host Jody Hice. “Abortion has real risks including hemorrhage infection, including rupturing ectopic pregnancies if they're not discovered before the abortion pill is given.”
The easy access of mail-order abortion drugs also lends itself to deceptive practices used against women, Harrison said.
“The drug as it's used right now through telemedicine (is) being given to women who don't even know they're getting the drug. There are a number of cases where women have received a drug from a disgruntled boyfriend and aborted even though they had no consent in it.”
Not rare, according to definition
The AAPLOG brief challenges ACOG assertions that complications are rare.
“They are not rare. Complications from the Mifepristone abortion are common, and that's the scientific definition of common as more than 1%. They are. You’ve got one out of 25 women ending up in the ER. That's not a rare complication,” Harrison said.
ACOG is not following the science but is following a leftist ideology on abortion, Harrison said.
She says ACOG ignores the science of a human being inside the womb, a being that carries a different blood type, a different heartbeat, different DNA and the capability of doing “all the things that human beings do.”
Eighty-five percent of OBGYNs won’t perform abortions “and it's not because we don't know how. It's because we recognize that there are two patients that stand in front of us: the human being in the womb and the mom who's carrying that human being. They're both our patients, and that's the long history of being an OBGYN which we're proud of,” Harrison said.
