Students for Life Celebrates the Decision that Notes issues with the Approval Process and false comparisons between drugs like Chemical Abortion and Ibuprofen 

Protections for Women Restored! 

Next up: Addressing The Environmental Harms Made Possible by Government Sanctioned Dumping of Medical Waste in America’s Waterways 

“Corporate abortion has hidden behind talking points for decades, ignoring the risks of deadly Chemical Abortion Pills as they have weaponized and weakened the medical standards to favor abortion industry interests,” said Student for Life of America’s Kristan Hawkins. “This ruling demolishes the FDA and abortion lobby’s claim that these drugs are safer than Ibuprofen using their own words and warnings. In court, the facts spoke louder than the spin, and the deadly impact on women is finally acknowledged.” 

WASHINGTON D.C. (04-13-2023) – Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins called today’s Fifth Circuit ruling in the on-going case against dangers Chemical Abortion Pills “an acknowledgement that women’s lives and health have been sacrificed, along with preborn infants, to fast track a quick sale. The only benefit to stripping away vital protections was to Corporate Abortion, which allowed them to lie about the dangers and absolve themselves of any problems, as they dropped some pills in the mail and walked away from whatever happened next. In their case, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), on behalf of pro-life, pro-women doctors, notes that a politicized approval process has ignored the women the FDA is supposed to protect. Clearly abandoned as well are the preborn who also suffer.  

“But also ignored by the FDA are the potential environmental harms as women are sent home to flush chemically tainted blood, placenta tissue, and human remains into the environment. Hospitals and even abortion vendors can’t flush placenta tissue or human remains. We are not even supposed to flush goldfish away. And yet, the business model that was created in 2000 by then President Bill Clinton set up a potential environmental hazard that has never been addressed. Students for Life of America will prioritize legal action in the days ahead that address the environmental impact, as the body count from Chemical Abortion Pills increase.”

CLICK HERE to read Hawkins’ op-ed, along with two state legislators, titled Stop Dumping Medical Waste, detailing some legislative solutions underway. 

SFLA Corporate Counsel Zac Kester said that the decision “returns the focus of the case to the women exposed to Chemical Abortion Pills,” adding, “The 5th Circuit properly observed how the 2016 reducing of protections along with subsequent FDA action represented a ‘sea change’ in prescribing standards that harms women and is worthy of being stopped at this early phase. This bad policy did not need to remain in place.”  

As SFLA as previously reported in earlier coverage of this case: Ironically, while the deadly pill pushers say they are advocating for women, SFLA’s YouGov poll indicates that Gen Z and Gen Y absolutely reject the policies of Biden’s FDA, which put them at risk.

TOP FINDINGS REPORTED FOR THE YOUGOV POLL BY THE DEMETREE INSTITUTE FOR PRO-LIFE ADVANCEMENT: 

The Generation asked to buy Chemical Abortion Pills doesn’t buy the Biden Team’s willingness to risk their lives and future fertility, with 9 in 10 consistently expressing concern with the current No Test, Online Distribution of Chemical Abortion Pills.   

• Support for an Ultrasound Screening to Protect Women facing ectopic or late-term pregnancies: 91% agree this is somewhat to extremely important, with 40% choosing extremely important. (Chemical Abortion Pills don’t work well later in pregnancy or end an ectopic pregnancy, once established outside the womb. An ultrasound is used to determine location and length of pregnancy to save women’s lives, something Biden’s FDA no longer requires.)  
• Support for Blood Test Screening to preserve a woman’s fertility: 93% agree this is somewhat to extremely important, with 41% choosing extremely important. (In the U.S., 15% of the population has Rh-negative blood. In an exchange of blood during birth, abortion, or miscarriage with a preborn baby, antibodies can form in a woman’s body that unless quickly neutralized can essentially sterilize her, as future pregnancies are attacked. The treatment is a shot called Rhogam that Biden’s FDA does not require to be administered, nor do they even require a blood test, giving women information they need to seek help.)  
• Support for requiring In-Person Care to prevent abusers from getting the drugs to use against women without their knowledge or consent: 60% supported with 40% opposing. (Chemical Abortion Pills are abusers’ dream drugs, giving them the power to end a mother’s pregnancy without her knowledge or consent. In-person dispensing ensures that women are not being coerced and that they have information on things like blood type.)   

Not only do Chemical Abortion Pills place women at risk of injury, infertility, death, and abusers, NIH-published studies such as this one indicate they pose a risk to the environment as well. 

More information on the broader project can be found here, but short-term plans are underway, including:   

STEP ONE: Students for Life of America & Students for Life Action have been leading the call for an Environmental Assessment of the impact of Chemical Abortion Pills along with tainted blood, tissue, and human remains in America’s wastewater system. This resonates with environmentally conscious Gen Z & Gen Y voters. Fewer than 1 in 10 wanted to ignore the potential dangers, with 92% agreeing that this is somewhat to extremely important, with 30% choosing extremely important.  

STEP TWO: To prevent environmental contamination of America’s water, corporations and medical businesses – from hospitals to surgical abortion vendor locations – are required to handle medical waste carefully. Red Bag Medical Waste regulations require contaminated and dangerous materials be disposed of according to state laws. The youth vote was fully in favor of requiring Red Bag Medical Waste procedures to Chemical Abortion Pill regulations, with 90% agreeing this is somewhat to extremely important, with 30% choosing extremely important.  

HISTORIC LEGISLATION MOVING FORWARD: Students for Life Action is already getting traction on our calls for protecting the environment from Chemical Abortion Pill-tainted blood, tissue, and human remains. West Virginia is the first state in the nation to file a bill calling for Red Bag Medical Waste requirements, and as Politico reports, “The next abortion fight could be over wastewater regulation.” 

ELECTED OFFICIALS TAKE NOTE: From the 2022 poll —  “Standing strong against reckless No Test, Online Chemical Abortion Pill sales and distribution is a winning issue. Almost 7 in 10 Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to support a candidate who supports laws that require in-person medical care and testing before and after the sale of dangerous Chemical Abortion Pills.” 

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.