On Monday, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said federal courts should not use the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to interfere in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of chemical abortions.
Hill
A U.S. district court recently ruled that the FDA must suspend several of its normal rules during the pandemic – including a requirement that mifepristone, an abortion drug, be dispensed only in a clinic, medical office or hospital.
Such rules protect women’s health and “are not unduly burdensome even in the current public health emergency,” according to an 11-state amicus brief filed in a U.S. appellate court. The brief, which is co-led by Indiana and Louisiana, supports the FDA’s motion for a stay of the district court’s ruling pending an appeal.
“When a woman ingests mifepristone for the purpose of aborting a fetus, she not only ends the life of her unborn child, but also undergoes significant risks to her own body,” Hill said. “Federal and state laws require physical examinations and in-person dispensing of mifepristone to ensure that physicians check for contraindications and that women fully understand the risks.”