Twenty-one Democratic attorneys general are asking government
agencies to lift restrictions on an abortion-inducing drug because
of the coronavirus pandemic.
California attorney general Xavier Becerra sent a
letter signed by 20 other Democratic attorneys general to the
Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug
Administration on March 30. The letter requests the rescinding of a
safety program required for medication that carries health risks
and demands that the two departments allow easier access to
abortion medication, facilitating abortions that could happen
without the patient having to leave her home.
The request for significantly loosened restrictions on abortion
comes as states face questions about whether abortion services
should qualify as essential care exempt from state lockdowns.
The drug in question, mifepristone,
can be used to cause an abortion during early stages of pregnancy.
The letter asks HHS and the FDA to waive the drug’s Risk Evaluation
and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) to facilitate out-of-clinic
abortions.
REMS requires providers to be registered with an FDA safety
program and with the drug manufacturer. It also requires patients
to be informed of the drug’s potential side effects.
The letter says the restrictions are “onerous and medically
unnecessary” during the coronavirus outbreak and could force women
to travel to obtain abortions.
The letter also says mifepristone is safer than other
over-the-counter drugs and has been found to have high safety
ratings in past
studies.
It requests that, at a minimum, the FDA use its “enforcement
discretion to allow certified prescribers to use telehealth for
mifepristone.”
“These women are putting themselves and their families at risk
when they seek out the healthcare that they need, and the federal
government must act to ensure that no matter where they live, they
can continue to receive necessary, safe, and legal abortion care,”
the letter concludes.
The letter comes in the midst of legal clashes over abortion.
Federal judges
ordered the temporary lifting of abortion restrictions in
Alabama, Texas, and Ohio earlier this week. The cases will be heard
early next month as state governments attempt to impose penalties
on abortion providers who continue to operate during the
pandemic.
The Kentucky state government
issued a statewide ban on abortions for the duration of the
pandemic. The state’s attorney general said the ban is necessary,
with an exception for cases involving threats to the health of the
mother, to contribute to social distancing and conserve medical
resources for coronavirus treatments.
Other states deemed abortions essential care and allowed
abortion clinics to stay open during the pandemic. A Planned
Parenthood affiliate in Pennsylvania
shut down all services it offered except for abortions after
the state governor ordered all non-life-sustaining services be shut
down. The clinic also requested donations of vital medical
equipment to continue performing the procedures, despite shortages
across the country as hospitals are inundated with coronavirus
patients.
Twenty of the attorney general offices did not respond to a
request for comment. The Maryland attorney general office told the
Washington Free Beacon it did not have any further reasoning
beyond the rationale in the letter.
The pro-life Susan B. Anthony List criticized the letter, saying
it could recklessly endanger women.
“The radical abortion lobby is shamelessly exploiting the fears
of women and families during this national crisis to promote a
dramatic expansion of chemical abortion, just when protective FDA
regulation of these dangerous drugs is needed most,” SBA List
president Marjorie Dannenfelser told the Free Beacon. “This
reckless push by the abortion industry puts everyone at risk,
including women who may be more vulnerable to infection after an
abortion.”
The post
Democratic AGs Want Abortion Pill Restrictions Lifted During
Coronavirus appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
