“Abortion activists called pregnancy an ‘illness’ to force a dangerous life-ending drug on the market. Then the FDA followed a ‘See No Evil’ Strategy of ignoring health risks and environmental concerns,” said Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins. “As SFLA details in a number of citizen petitions, the FDA has failed to protect people from deadly consequences.”  

CLICK HERE TO READ STUDENTS FOR LIFE OF AMERICA’S AMICUS BRIEF IN THE CASE.  

WASHINGTON, D.C. (05-17-2023) – Students for Life of America/SFLAction President Kristan Hawkins called today’s hearing in the Fifth Circuit “a long overdue assessment of how negligently dangerous, life-ending drugs were forced onto the U.S. market. That includes the FDA overlooking the need for an evaluation of the impact of Chemical Abortion Pill disposal on endangered species each of the five times the regulations were introduced or changed, as well as rubber stamping an environmental assessment by the organization prepared to reap the profits of ending life with abortion pills.” 

Students for Life of America has filed an amicus brief in the case, found here and here, in which we call for approval of the drug to be revoked until the required environmental testing, including testing that shows whether chemically tainted pathological waste in our waterways is harming aquatic, animal, and plant life.  

We note: “When the FDA made significant changes to the Mifepristone regimen and REMS in 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2023, the agency simply failed to conduct any ESA consultation or environmental assessment. This failure clearly violated the ESA and must be corrected immediately—especially in light of the FDA’s removal of the in- person dispensing requirement, which opened the floodgates to do-it-yourself home abortions, followed by disposal of Mifepristone into our nation’s water supply.” 

Click here to read more on SFLA’s Citizen Petitions – now three and counting. 

In the hearing for Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Et Al. v. U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Et Al., Appellants; Danco Laboratories, Appellant, some of the discussion included:  

• Challenging the idea that the FDA could not be held accountable for their decisions in a lawsuit about what happens to women when a company sells the drugs and women use them.  Environmental groups have held agencies responsible for what companies have done after getting agency approval. (This gets directly to SFLA’s contention that the FDA has negligently allowed potential environmental harms to take place.) 
• Disputing the argument that “the FDA can do no wrong.” This is patently silly, especially when you can show that the FDA has made mistakes in the past in regards to other drugs. And the idea that a court cannot review any FDA thinking is also nonsense.  
• Highlighting the lack of appropriate testing and study. While the way in which the drugs were used and distributed changed, no testing took place nor were studies provided that showed the changes were safe for use. 
• Noting the very personal attack on the district court. The abortion-supporting attorneys seemed out of bounds, as two judges noted that calling the trial court’s view “an unprecedented judicial assault” was far from normal, though the abortion-supporting attorney did not back down from the point. 
• Questioning statements about safety and assessment of conditions like ectopic pregnancy given the absence of data on adverse events, as reporting problems is not required, and the absence of required testing, like an ultrasound. 

CLICK HERE to read Hawkins’ op-ed, along with two state legislators, titled Stop Dumping Medical Waste, detailing environmental harms of Chemical Abortion Pills & solutions. 

To read SFLA’s reaction to the case to date, check out:  

• Supreme Court Plays Politics by Temporarily Rejecting the Science-Based Objections of the Fifth Circuit to keep Chemical Abortion Pills on the Market 
• Students for Life Celebrates the Decision that Notes issues with the Approval Process and false comparisons between drugs like Chemical Abortion and Ibuprofen  
• FACT CHECK: Will Restricting the Abortion Pill Impact Treatment for Miscarriage or Cushing Syndrome? 
• SFLAction & SFLA launch a Campus, State, & Federal Campaign asking, “What’s In the Water?”

For more about Chemical Abortion Pills, visit This Is Chemical Abortion. 

SAVE THE DATE: On June 24, SFLA will hold an historic event in Washington D.C. to note the one-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade’s end, calling for recognition of the protections for preborn life found already in the U.S. Constitution – in the 14^th Amendment. Click here to learn more. 

For interviews, contact Kristi Hamrick at [email protected] 

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Students for Life Action (SFLAction), a 501c4, along with its 501c3 sister organization, Students for Life of America (SFLA), make up the nation’s largest pro-life youth organization and a political and policy operation engaging people of all ages. Together they work to end abortion — the human rights issue of our day — and provide political, legal, and community support for women and their children, born and preborn. Headquartered in Fredericksburg, VA, SFLA has more than 1,300 groups on middle, high school, college, university, medical, and law school campuses in all 50 states. SFLA creates strategy, policy, and programming to connect those most targeted for abortion with people ready to help and builds a framework for political engagement on their behalf. SFLA and SFLAction have more conversations with those most targeted by the abortion industry than any other pro-life outreach in the world, reaching more than 2 million people across social media platforms each week and engaging in approximately 100,000 digital conversations per month. Over more than 16 years, President Kristan Hawkins has grown SFLAction/SFLA into an $18 million organization preparing for a Post-Roe America.