(The Center Square) – Illinois opponents and supporters weigh in as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews safety rules for abortion pills loosened under the Biden administration.
During a recent U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, asked U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about mifepristone, a drug used to end pregnancies.
Kennedy responded that studies are “progressing and ongoing,” promising, “I will keep your office informed at every stage.”
Mark Lee Dickson, director of Right to Life Across Texas and founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, criticized the Biden administration for loosening safeguards on mail-order access to abortion pills.
“For years we saw an administration that didn’t look for the health and safety of Americans. They looked for the health and safety of the pockets of the abortion industry,” Dickson told The Center Square.
Dickson also highlighted the historical context of federal law in restricting abortion medications.
“We actually have a law that was passed by Congress in 1873 known as the Comstock Act that prohibits the mailing of abortion-inducing drugs and abortion paraphernalia. If it was enforced, it would shut down every abortion facility in America regardless of the state,” said Dickson.
Planned Parenthood of Illinois says mifepristone has been a safe and widely used medication for abortion and miscarriage care for 25 years. The organization offers it in health centers and via telehealth, and calls the FDA’s review politically motivated and harmful to trust in health care.
“More than half of our patients choose this option for its privacy and affordability. The FDA’s politically motivated review undermines trust in proven health care and spreads harmful misinformation,” Dr. Katie Sisco, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, told The Center Square in an email. “PPIL firmly supports our patients and providers. We will continue to offer clear, accurate information and fight for every person’s right to make informed decisions about their bodies, their health, and their futures, without interference or intimidation.”
Dickson participated in a coalition letter urging the FDA to reinstate the mifepristone safety protections for abortion-inducing drugs.
“What we’ve realized, based on data from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is that about 11% of women who take these abortion-inducing drugs end up in emergency rooms across the United States,” said Dickson. “When you see a reality like that, something has to be done. That is why I think the FDA is taking this so seriously, they can’t ignore the fact that 11% of women are ending up in emergency rooms.”
Addressing abortion-rights groups’ pushback, Dickson dismissed Planned Parenthood’s recent statement defending pill access.
“Planned Parenthood is a dying organization. There are Planned Parenthoods closing across the nation because they can’t have money for abortions,” he said. “They’re not about women’s health care; they’re about abortions.”
