Catholic Bishops are fighting back against the Biden Administration after the FDA (FDA) approved pharmacies to distribute abortion drugs. The FDA’s new decision allows any patient with a prescription to obtain the drug mifepristone from their local pharmacy. The use of mifepristone for a chemical abortion is approved for up to 10 weeks of gestation and was done so in 2000. It is also referred to as abortion pills, chemical abortion, medication abortion, and telemedicine abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, It accounts for more than half of all abortions in the U.S.
Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, the chair of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities responded the FDA’s new policy by saying that it “advances the obvious tragedy of taking the lives of the preborn but is also harmful to women in need.” “The FDA should protect the life and health of both mothers and children, not loosen safety standards under industry or political pressures. We call on the administration to correct its policy priorities and stand with mothers in need,” he added.
Burbidge went on the cite the specific danger of chemical abortion, which also effect the mother:
“The rate of serious complications after chemical abortion is considerably higher than after surgical abortion. Overturning the safety protocols around abortion-causing drugs to effectively make them available on demand at pharmacies, requiring no in-person medical supervision, facilitates the isolation of critically vulnerable pregnant women and invites more risk, pain, and trauma. It may also result in new violations of conscience for pharmacy workers who cannot dispense such drugs.”
It was only just last November that the FDA put out a warning about the dangers of mifepristone when it is taken while not being pregnant or to evade pregnancy. In December of 2021, the FDA authorized doctors to prescribe abortion pills online and mail them, which let women perform abortions without leaving home. The messaging of the FDA on mifepristone seems to be inconsistent but when looked at closely there is no mistake that the agency is all for allowing loose and easy access to abortion pills.
