CV NEWS FEED // The National Association of Pro-Life Nurses announced this week that it has joined the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in the landmark case against the Food and Drug Administration about the chemical abortion drug mifepristone.
The association’s president, Dorothy Kane, stated in a news release that the lawsuit, which is headed to the Supreme Court, “is about safeguarding women’s health, protecting the integrity of the healthcare profession, and committing to evidence-based care.”
Established in 1973, the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses is a nonprofit organization that promotes ethical values in the field of nursing and shares informational resources regarding bioethical issues.
“Nurses are on the front lines witnessing the serious harms to women caused by the FDA’s reckless removal of essential safeguards for the use of chemical abortion drugs,” Kane said. “Women deserve the ongoing, in-person care of a medical professional when taking high-risk drugs. The FDA has compromised patient safety and shown a callous disregard for women’s health and safety. This case is about safeguarding women’s health, protecting the integrity of the healthcare profession, and committing to evidence-based care.”
The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments for the case, U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, on March 26. The plaintiffs argue that the FDA approved the chemical abortion drug mifepristone without sufficient research on its safety and effects. The plaintiffs also argue that the FDA illegally removed the requirement for in-person doctor visits before receiving a prescription for chemical abortion drugs.
The availability of mifepristone has increased within the last year, as CVS and Walgreens recently announced that they plan to prescribe the drug via mail.
The SCOTUS decision on the case will determine the availability and accessibility of mifepristone.
>> How Bad is Mifepristone For Women? <<
According to the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses, the FDA disregarded patient safety by removing safeguards despite the drug’s health risks and facilitated a lack of informed consent by removing requirements of in-person doctor visits for women seeking an abortion drug regime prescription.
The FDA’s own label for mifepristone and misoprostol states that one in 25 women who take the abortion drugs will end up in an emergency room, the association’s release said.
“The removal of abortion drug safety standards could lead to a greater number of complications, including hemorrhage, life-threatening infection, and incomplete abortions,” the release said.
