Calling All CMA Members to Supreme Court Rally March 26
March 8, 2024
The health and well-being of teenage girls and young adult women is at stake in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case that will go before the Supreme Court Tuesday, March 26.
In 2000, the FDA approved the high-risk abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol for use in the United States with specific safety standards in place. The FDA required doctors to provide ongoing care to teenage girls and women using the drugs, including the necessary in-person visits to check for ectopic pregnancies, severe bleeding, and life-threatening infections.
Since its initial approval, the FDA has removed nearly every safety standard it once determined essential for women’s health and safety. By eliminating the requirement that doctors provide in-person care, the FDA has left teenage girls and women to take these high-risk drugs alone at home despite the fact that the FDA’s own label for mifepristone says that “about 2 to 7 out of 100 women will need a surgical procedure because the pregnancy did not completely pass from the uterus or to stop bleeding.”
The pill packet also says that about 85% of patients report at least one adverse reaction following administration of 200 mg mifepristone tablets and misoprostol. Many can be expected to report more than one adverse reaction, including nausea, weakness, fever/chills, vomiting, headache, diarrhea, and dizziness. The packet also warns of serious and sometimes fatal infection and bleeding; however, the FDA also removed the requirement for prescribers to report all serious complications from the abortion drugs.
As an organization of health care professionals on the front lines caring for these patients and seeing the severe health complications resulting from the FDA’s actions, the Catholic Medical Association, a founding member of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, is participating in the suit to hold the FDA accountable. These patients should have the ongoing care of a doctor when taking high-risk drugs, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court should require the FDA to reinstate the safety standards it originally deemed necessary.
“This case holds significant implications for Catholic health care professionals, women, and teenage girls and could have more far-reaching consequences than the Dobbs decision, as studies show that chemical abortions are more dangerous and more prevalent than surgical abortions,” said Executive Director, Mario R. Dickerson, M.T.S., who will attend the proceedings on behalf of CMA. “For faith-based health care professionals, the outcome could affect their ability to conscientiously object to participating in the abortion process, infringing on their religious freedom and best standards of care for women, girls, and preborn children.”
CMA and all the allied health organizations involved with the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine are calling members to join together in their white coats on the steps of the Supreme Court for a rally from 8am-12pm on Tuesday, March 26. Together, physicians and health care professionals will stand up for their patients’ safety and well-being.
Please register here if you are able to attend.
