WASHINGTON (April 27, 2023) – A measure pretending to revive the long-expired Equal Rights Amendment failed today in the U.S. Senate, falling 9 votes short of the level of support necessary to allow it to advance to the House of Representatives, where it would have died anyway. The vote to advance S.J. Res. 4 was 51-47, with 60 votes required.

“While some ERA true-believers will assert that today’s vote was a mystical victory for the ERA, they further delude themselves,” said Douglas Johnson, director of the ERA Project of the National Right to Life Committee. “ERA-revival advocates continue to deflect news media attention away from the fact that the federal courts have consistently rejected legal claims that the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment remains viable. The most recent such ruling was by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on February 28, rejecting the claim of Illinois and Nevada that the ERA has been ratified—a unanimous ruling by a panel made up of judges appointed by Presidents Obama, Biden, and Trump.”

Johnson also noted that a White House State of Administration Policy issued today on S.J. Res. 4 “conspicuously avoided language asserting that the resolution would have a legal effect, but instead merely observed that the resolution ‘would declare’ the ERA to be part of the Constitution.”

“Every time the issue has been litigated in federal court, most recently in 2021, the pro-ERA side has lost, no matter whether the judge was appointed by a Democrat or a Republican,” wrote the Washington Post Fact Checker in February 2022, awarding “Four Pinocchios” to claims by then-Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) that the Archivist was obligated to certify the ERA as part of the Constitution.

Earlier this week, NRLC sent a letter to the U.S. Senate, urging a nay vote on the unconstitutional ERA-revival measure.

The recent history of judicial, executive, and legislative actions on the Equal Rights Amendment is documented in detail in the NRLC Special Report on the Equal Rights Amendment (January 23, 2023).

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, the Kansas legislature voted to override Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (HB 2313/SB 320).

The Kansas Born-Alive Infants Protection Act would require that infants who survive abortion attempts be given the same degree of medical care as other children born alive at the same gestational age.

“We thank the leaders in the Kansas House and Senate who are leading the way in protecting babies born alive following an abortion,” stated Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life (NRL). “We praise our affiliate Kansans for Life for their tireless and unceasing work in seeing this law passed.”

Earlier today, the Kansas House voted to override the veto in a vote of 87-37. Later, the Kansas Senate voted 31-9 to override the governor’s veto.

“We applaud the Kansas legislators from both sides of the aisle who stood together for compassion and basic human decency by repudiating Governor Kelly’s heartless veto of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act,” stated Jeanne Gawdun, KFL Director of Government Relations.

Continued Gawdun, “Born-Alive protections proved to be the very definition of a ‘middle-of-the-road’ position, with 96% of Kansans in agreement that babies born alive after attempted abortions deserve the same degree of medical care as any newborn of the same gestational age. Any legislator who failed to vote today to override HB 2313 made themselves subservient to one of the most extreme abortion positions possible, effectively endorsing infanticide.”

The survey conducted by Heart+Mind Strategies for Kansans for Life that shows 96% of Kansans support protection for babies born alive following an abortion can be found here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — Planned Parenthood released its 2021-2022 annual report on Monday, and it shows that, despite the COVID pandemic which caused lockdowns across the country, Planned Parenthood performed the second-highest number of abortions it has ever performed.

The service figures in this latest annual report cover October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021—before to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Women’s Health Services.

Current trends would appear to put the percentage of U.S. abortions performed at Planned Parenthood somewhere north of 40% with the organization performing 374,155. This gives Planned Parenthood a commanding share of the nation’s abortion market.

“It is obvious, given the volume of killing, its enormous budget, and its aggressive abortion advocacy, Planned Parenthood is relentless in promoting unlimited abortion for any reason,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Despite lockdowns during COVID and health care that was deferred for many Americans during the pandemic, Planned Parenthood continued to perform abortions at a near-record rate.”

Planned Parenthood took in a record $1.9 ($1,906.7) billion in revenue making the abortion giant one of the nation’s most profitable “non-profits.”

Of the $1.9 billion in revenue, $670.4 million, or 35% of Planned Parenthood’s revenue came from taxpayers in the form of “Government Health Services Reimbursements & Grants.”

“Planned Parenthood likes to bill itself as an ‘advocate for women’ but its latest annual report makes clear that the promotion and continued performance of abortion is the primary ‘service’ for which they advocate,” said Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research for National Right to Life, one of the right-to-life movement’s most authoritative experts on the abortion giant.

Most of Planned Parenthood’s expenses went toward “medical services,” which came in at about $1 billion. It is impossible to estimate how much of these expenses were for performing abortions because Planned Parenthood does not make these numbers public and the prices for abortions vary regionally at Planned Parenthood affiliates. In addition, the cost of different abortion procedures varies based on how old the unborn baby is at the time of the abortion, making even general calculations impossible.

Planned Parenthood’s annual report also shows that prenatal services and adoption referrals, already rare at Planned Parenthood, were the lowest numbers in over a decade.

• Just 6,244 women received prenatal care at Planned Parenthood clinics in 2021.
• Just 1,803 women were referred for adoptions.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Joe Biden announced that he is running for reelection because he wants to “finish the job.”

“Joe Biden wants to ‘finish the job’ which means the killing of more unborn children,” stated Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life (NRL). “If Joe Biden wins, babies will lose.”

Since its first days in office, the Biden-Harris Administration prioritized a radical abortion agenda: unlimited abortions for any reason, even as a method of family planning and even late in pregnancy—right up until birth—and using tax dollars to pay for it. The Administration employed a whole-of-government approach to promoting abortion, using every lever of power at its disposal to make abortions more available and more common, with no thought of the innocent unborn children who would die.

The Biden-Harris abortion agenda is extreme and out of step with the American electorate. Polling shows that most Americans would allow abortions only in rare or limited circumstances—such as life of the mother, medical emergencies, rape and incest—and a majority does not support unlimited abortions through birth, or their tax dollars being used to fund them.

“Americans deserve a president who will stand up and protect unborn children and their mothers. Americans deserve a president who accepts the scientific facts that unborn babies have beating hearts, detectable brain waves, the capacity to feel pain, and a unique set of DNA never to be replicated by another human being,” Tobias added. “Americans deserve a president who will fight to ensure pregnant women facing unexpected pregnancies receive the support and resources they need to make life-affirming decisions.”

“Instead of supporting life-affirming programs and policies that help women and their unborn children, the Biden Administration has poured its focus into promoting unlimited abortion, even late in pregnancy,” said Tobias. “Joe Biden’s abysmal record on abortion speaks for itself: Joe Biden is the most pro-abortion president in American history.”

As the only national single-issue pro-life organization with a grassroots presence in all fifty states, National Right to Life and its network of affiliates and chapters is uniquely positioned to educate Americans about what is at stake in the 2024 elections.

Joe Biden’s presidential record on abortion can be found here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON (April 24, 2023) – The U.S. Senate will conduct a cloture vote on Thursday, April 27, on a measure (S.J. Res. 4) that purports to make the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment a part of the U.S. Constitution.

“The anticipated Senate vote on the ERA measure, which will fail, is an exercise in political performance art,” said Douglas Johnson, director of the ERA Project of the National Right to Life Committee. “The ERA irrevocably expired decades ago, and those who argue otherwise have suffered an unbroken 41-year string of defeats in the federal courts, most recently in a unanimous rejection by a panel of the D.C. Circuit. Congress can no more resurrect the long-expired 1972 ERA than it can float the Titanic.”

“Every time the issue has been litigated in federal court, most recently in 2021, the pro-ERA side has lost, no matter whether the judge was appointed by a Democrat or a Republican,” wrote the Washington Post Fact Checker in February 2022, awarding “Four Pinocchios” to claims by then-Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) that the Archivist was obligated to certify the ERA as part of the Constitution.

Johnson added, “With the unanimous February 28 D.C. Circuit decision rejecting the claim that the ERA has been ratified, the ERA-revival movement is now 0 for 29 among federal judges who have had an opportunity to act or vote on any of its novel and implausible legal claims.”

NRLC today sent a new letter to the U.S. Senate, urging a nay vote on the unconstitutional ERA-revival measure.

Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), a leading opponent of the ERA-revival scheme, has introduced Senate Resolution 107, which critiques some of the constitutional violations inherent in S.J. Res. 4. NRLC endorses the Hyde-Smith measure.

The recent history of judicial, executive, and legislative actions on the Equal Rights Amendment is documented in detail in the NRLC Special Report on the Equal Rights Amendment (January 23, 2023).

Mr. Johnson can be reached at (202) 626-8825.

Decision Stays Lower Court Ruling
Returns the Issue to the 5th Circuit for Full Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C.— On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court released a decision that stayed lower court rulings and returned the issue to the 5th Circuit for a full hearing in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Chemical abortion drugs will stay on the market, for now. However, the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will take up the case in a hearing scheduled for May 17.

“We are hopeful that when the court takes up the expedited hearing on May 17 that it will confirm the fact that these drugs are dangerous to women,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

The case was brought by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the abortion drug mifepristone.

Justice Alito dissented from today’s decision, writing about the ruling of the three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit:

It would simply restore the circumstances that existed (and that the Government defended) from 2000 to 2016 under three Presidential administrations.

The circumstances that existed from 2000 to 2016 were a series of protections meant to reduce the many dangers of chemical abortions.

“The U.S. Supreme Court gives the full 5th Circuit the opportunity to evaluate the case on its merits and review the materials presented to them in a timely fashion,” said Tobias. “What the courts will see is a drug that does not cure a disease or alleviate the symptoms of a disease. It was developed to take the life of an unborn child and always has the potential to harm the mother.”

In the lawsuit, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the plaintiffs argued that the FDA unlawfully fast-tracked the approval of mifepristone through a process intended for the treatment of life-threatening illnesses.

On April 13, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit removed the 2016, 2021, and 2023 changes to the FDA’s loosening of the original safeguards it applied to mifepristone and left in place the original requirements that it be used only up to 7 weeks of pregnancy, including: three physician visits; removed the ability for the drug to be mailed or dispensed by pharmacies; prevented non-physicians from prescribing the drug and reinstated the reporting requirements for non-fatal adverse events. Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court stays the 5th Circuit three-judge panel decision while the case is under review by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the research organization affiliated with the abortion industry, approximately 54% of all abortions are done using chemical abortion methods like mifepristone and misoprostol.

Mifepristone is used in combination with misoprostol, a prostaglandin, to cause an abortion. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, leading to the death of the unborn baby, while the second drug, misoprostol, causes powerful, painful uterine contractions to expel the dead or dying baby.

The FDA recently weakened the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for the drug to allow it to be dispensed and even mailed by pharmacies. Prior to those 2023 changes, the FDA had previously weakened the protocols for mifepristone by:

(1) increasing the maximum gestational age at which a woman can use the drug from 49 to 70 days; (2) reducing the number of required in-person office visits from three to one; (3) allowing non-doctors to prescribe and administer the chemical abortions drugs; and (4) eliminating the requirement for prescribers to report non-fatal adverse events from chemical abortion (Page 5 of the decision of the three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.)

“When hundreds of thousands of women take these pills, even a couple of percentage points of women hemorrhaging, dealing with infections, or ectopic pregnancy, represents thousands of women desperately seeking treatment, which may or may not be nearby,” said Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research for National Right to Life.

On April 5, National Right to Life released a white paper about the myths involving the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval and management of mifepristone (generic for Mifeprex).

Addressing Many of the Myths the Media is Repeating about the FDA’s Approval and Management of Mifeprex (Mifepristone) can be accessed here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— In a vote on Wednesday afternoon, the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate defeated a Republican effort to stop the Biden Administration’s illegal order to turn Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals into abortion centers.

The resolution failed in a vote of 48-51. All Democrats voted against the resolution except for Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) who voted for it.

“The Biden Administration once again pushes unlimited abortion paid for with taxpayer dollars,” stated Carol Tobias. “The day after Americans finalized and filed their taxes, with some paying a tax bill with hard-earned funds, Democrats voted to continue to send those monies to support unlimited abortion at the VA.”

Continued Tobias, “National Right to Life thanks Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) for his efforts to try to block the Biden Administration’s latest shameless promotion of abortion.”

The Biden Administration’s Interim Final Rule (IFR) authorizes the VA to provide taxpayer-funded abortions and abortion counseling to veterans, as well as eligible spouses and dependents, in direct conflict with both federal and state law.

Since 1992, the Veteran’s Administration has been statutorily prohibited from using taxpayer dollars for abortion. But on September 9, 2022, the Biden Administration disregarded this prohibition and issued a new rule (“Reproductive Health Services,” 87 FR 55287) which includes funding of abortion for “health reasons.”

The undefined reference to health will mean, as in Doe v. Bolton (the companion case to Roe v. Wade), that abortions can be done for virtually any reason. The Court held in Doe that, “medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age—relevant to the wellbeing of the patient. All these factors may relate to health.”

For the past 30 years, abortion has been allowed in the rare cases where the mother was faced with an emergency situation or life-threatening complication. Because there is nothing in the IFR which defines health, the health exception is not limited in any way. This means the VA is now providing abortion on demand, with no limits.

“The IFR is the latest in a long string of actions the Biden Administration has taken to promote abortion, regardless of how it violates state and federal laws regarding abortion,” said Tobias. “This Administration is attempting to get around state laws that protect unborn children—regardless of any state laws that protect unborn babies.”

Federal law cannot immunize VA employees from state laws on abortions. Federal law expressly prohibits the VA from providing abortions.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Late Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s The Heartbeat Act after the bill passed the House earlier in the evening in a vote of 70-40.

The law allows abortion throughout pregnancy to protect the life of the mother or in cases of reported rape, incest, medical emergency or when the child has a fatal condition, but it will protect unborn children from elective abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy—a time at which the unborn child has a beating heart.

The vast majority of abortions are performed on healthy babies of healthy mothers who are conceived consensually, and half of these elective abortions take place after 6 weeks—after the baby has a beating heart.

“We praise pro-life Governor Ron DeSantis for signing this bill that will save countless lives,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “We thank the bill’s sponsors and the dedication of our Florida affiliate, Florida Right to Life, for its efforts to see this bill become law.”

The law also provides $25 million dollars for pregnancy resources and material support (diapers, formula, parenting classes, life skills, and counseling).

“The bill signing ceremony was an awesome event. We thank our pro-life governor for swiftly signing our 6-week bill into law. We thank the bill’s sponsors for their dedication and advocacy for life. It’s a great day to be a Floridian,” said Lynda Bell, president of Florida Right to Life, who attended the signing ceremony.

For select photos of the signing ceremony, please email mediarelations@nrlc.org.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Bill Will Go to Governor DeSantis

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, National Right to Life applauded the Florida Legislature for protecting unborn children with beating hearts from elective abortion.

In a vote of 70-40, the Florida House passed HB 7, The Heartbeat Protection Act. The bill will now go to Governor Ron DeSantis for his signature.

The law allows abortion throughout pregnancy to protect the life of the mother or in cases of reported rape, incest, medical emergency or when the child has a fatal condition, but it will protect unborn children from elective abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy—a time at which the unborn child has a beating heart.

The vast majority of abortions are performed on healthy babies of healthy mothers who are conceived consensually, and half of these elective abortions take place after 6 weeks—after the baby has a beating heart.

“This law will save many babies from needless death,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “We applaud the Florida legislature for passing this bill to protect innocent human life.”

Tobias continued, “We praise Florida Right to Life, National Right to Life’s Florida affiliate, for its commitment and hard work in seeing this legislation pass.”

The law also provides $25 million dollars for pregnancy resources and material support (diapers, formula, parenting classes, life skills, and counseling).

“This is a wonderful day for babies and their mothers in Florida,” said Lynda Bell, president of Florida Right to Life. “Pro-abortion groups lose the debate when they say we don’t care about women because this bill provides over $25 million in support for women and girls in an unexpected pregnancy. We Floridians value unborn children and their mothers.”

Bell continued, “This is a good day to be a Floridian. Florida Right to Life looks forward to assisting in any way we can.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Decision Upholds District Court’s Order that Restores Earlier Safeguards

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Late Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a partial stay, pending appeal, in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The 5th Circuit keeps in place the portion of U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s order requiring the FDA to restore previous safeguards for chemical abortion drugs.

The Justice Department has announced they will be seeking emergency relief from the Supreme Court.

The 5th Circuit decision removes the 2016, 2021, and 2023 changes to the FDAs loosening of the original safeguards it applied to mifepristone and leaves in place the original requirements that it be used only up to 7 weeks of pregnancy, including three physician visits, removes the ability for the drug to be mailed or dispensed by pharmacies, prevents non-physicians from administering the drug and reinstates the reporting requirements for non-fatal adverse events.

The case was brought by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the abortion drug mifepristone.

“This drug does not treat or cure a disease but kills an unborn child and exposes his or her mother to dangerous, life-threatening side effects,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “The 5th Circuit Court recognized that, by removing the guardrails on this dangerous drug, the FDA places women at greater risk of life-threatening harm.”

In the lawsuit, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the plaintiffs argued that the FDA unlawfully fast-tracked the approval of mifepristone through a process intended for the treatment of life-threatening illnesses. Judge Kacsmaryk issued a national injunction on the use of mifepristone in chemical abortions but stayed his ruling by a week to allow the Department of Justice to appeal.

In their decision, the Fifth Circuit noted:

• Women who take these drugs are susceptible to torrential bleeding. In fact, the risk of severe bleeding with chemical abortion is five times higher than from surgical abortion. And these situations can quickly go from bad to worse. (p. 14)
• After eliminating that adverse-event reporting requirement, FDA turned around in 2021 and declared the absence of non-fatal adverse-event reports means mifepristone is safe… It’s unreasonable for an agency to eliminate a reporting requirement for a thing and then use the resulting absence of data to support its decision. (p. 35)

And as noted by Judge Kacsmaryk in his ruling on Friday, April 7:

The Court does not second-guess FDA’s decision-making lightly. But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty — based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions. There is also evidence indicating FDA faced significant political pressure to forego its proposed safety precautions to better advance the political objective of increased “access” to chemical abortion — which was the “whole idea of mifepristone.” (p. 57)

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the research organization affiliated with the abortion industry, approximately 54% of all abortions are done using the chemical abortion method involving mifepristone and misoprostol.

“For over 20 years, the abortion industry has peddled lies about the ease of chemical abortions all while pushing for lowering the protections for women,” said Tobias. “In its decision, the 5th Circuit Court recognized that the drug is dangerous and loosening protections for women is unreasonable.”

Mifepristone is used in combination with misoprostol, a prostaglandin, to cause an abortion. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, leading to the death of the unborn baby, while the second drug, misoprostol, causes powerful, painful uterine contractions to expel the dead or dying baby.

The FDA recently weakened the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for the drug to allow it to be dispensed and even mailed by pharmacies. Under the stay, the FDA cannot allow the most recent changes it made in the administration of the drug. The court described these as:

(1) increasing the maximum gestational age at which a woman can use the drug from 49 to 70 days; (2) reducing the number of required in-person office visits from three to one; (3) allowing non-doctors to prescribe and administer the chemical abortions drugs; and (4) eliminating the requirement for prescribers to report non-fatal adverse events from chemical abortion (p.5)

“The court notes that the FDA eliminated the reporting of non-fatal adverse events associated with mifepristone and then used the absence of reports as a basis for declaring that mifepristone was ‘safe,’” said Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research for National Right to Life. “When hundreds of thousands of women take these pills, even a couple of percentage points of women hemorrhaging, dealing with infections, or ectopic pregnancy, represents thousands of women desperately seeking treatment, which may or may not be nearby.”

On April 5, National Right to Life released a white paper about the myths involving the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval and management of mifepristone (generic for Mifeprex).

Addressing Many of the Myths the Media is Repeating about the FDA’s Approval and Management of Mifeprex (Mifepristone) can be accessed here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in the Northern District of Texas issued a national injunction in the case brought by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The decision will place a national injunction on the use of mifepristone in chemical abortions. Judge Kacsmaryk has stayed his ruling by a week to allow the Department of Justice to appeal.

In the lawsuit, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the plaintiffs argued that the FDA unlawfully fast-tracked the approval of mifepristone through a process intended for the treatment of life-threatening illnesses.

In his decision, Judge Kacsmaryk noted the following:

• Over twenty years ago, the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approved chemical abortion (“2000 Approval”). The legality of the 2000 Approval is now before this Court. Why did it take two decades for judicial review in federal court? After all, Plaintiffs’ petitions challenging the 2000 Approval date back to the year 2002, right? Simply put, FDA stonewalled judicial review — until now. Before Plaintiffs filed this case, FDA ignored their petitions for over sixteen years, even though the law requires an agency response within “180 days of receipt of the petition.” (pg. 1)
• Most readers would not define pregnancy to be a serious or life-threatening illness. Even FDA does not earnestly defend that position. True, complications can arise during pregnancy, and said complications can be serious or life-threatening. But that does not make pregnancy itself an illness. (pg. 44)
• One study revealed the overall incidence of adverse events is “fourfold higher” in chemical abortions when compared to surgical abortions. Women who underwent chemical abortions also experienced far higher rates of hemorrhaging, incomplete abortion, and unplanned surgical evacuation. (pg. 45)
• Contrary to popular belief and talking points, the evidence shows chemical abortion is not “as easy as taking Advil.” Compelling evidence suggests the statistics provided by FDA on the adverse effects of chemical abortion understate the negative impact the chemical abortion regimen has on women and girls. When women seek emergency care after receiving the chemical abortion pills, the abortionist that prescribed the drugs is usually not the provider to manage the mother’s complications. Consequently, the treating physician may not know the adverse event is due to mifepristone. Studies support this conclusion by finding over sixty percent of women and girls’ emergency room visits after chemical abortions are miscoded as “miscarriages” rather than adverse effects to mifepristone. Simply put, FDA’s data are incomplete and potentially misleading, as are the statistics touted by mifepristone advocates. (pg. 47)
• The Court does not second-guess FDA’s decision-making lightly. But here, FDA acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns — in violation of its statutory duty — based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions. There is also evidence indicating FDA faced significant political pressure to forego its proposed safety precautions to better advance the political objective of increased “access” to chemical abortion — which was the “whole idea of mifepristone.” (pg. 57)

“This decision shines a light on something that the Biden Administration wants to sweep under the rug – that these drugs do not treat or cure disease but kill unborn children and expose their mothers to dangerous side effects. The FDA should be in the business of ensuring safety, not in taking lives,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the research organization affiliated with the abortion industry, approximately 54% of all abortions are done using the chemical abortion method involving mifepristone and misoprostol.

Tobias continued, “The abortion industry has pushed for lowering protections for women undergoing a chemical abortion, while it peddles lies about the ease of the method.”

Mifepristone is used in combination with misoprostol, a prostaglandin, to cause an abortion. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, leading to the death of the unborn baby, while the second drug, misoprostol, causes powerful, painful uterine contractions to expel the dead or dying baby.

The FDA recently weakened the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for the drug to allow it to be dispensed and even mailed by pharmacies.

“Promoters of these pills like to trumpet high safety rates, but neglect to mention how that with hundreds of thousands of women taking these pills, even a couple of percentage points of women hemorrhaging, dealing with infections, and ectopic pregnancy, represents thousands of women desperately seeking treatment, which may or may not be nearby,” said Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research for National Right to Life.

On April 5, National Right to Life released a white paper about the myths involving the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval and management of mifepristone (generic for Mifeprex).

Addressing Many of the Myths the Media is Repeating about the FDA’s Approval and Management of Mifeprex (Mifepristone) can be accessed here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Wednesday, Governor Little of Idaho signed a bill designed to protect minor daughters in the state of Idaho.

HB 242 would make it a crime for an adult to transport a pregnant minor within the state of Idaho for the purpose of obtaining an abortion with the intent to conceal the abortion from the parents or guardian of the minor.

Idaho is the first state to make abortion trafficking of minors illegal and the language is based on the model National Right to Life (NRLC) drafted in June 2022. Missouri passed a law in 2005 that prohibits aiding a minor in getting an abortion without her parents’ consent.

“We thank Governor Little for signing the bill and protecting minor daughters from those who would deny them the counsel of their parents,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “HB 242 prevents an adult from taking a minor and traveling within the state of Idaho with the intent to obtain an abortion without her parents’ knowledge.”

Idaho’s HB 242 would seek to prevent an abortion—whether surgical or procured using abortion drugs—from being performed on a minor without the knowledge of her parents or guardians.

Tobias continued, “Parents have the right to be involved in decisions regarding their daughter’s wellbeing. HB 242 protects that right.”

The text of the bill can be found here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

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Florida Right to Life Praised for Its Work

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Yesterday, Florida’s SB 300, The Heartbeat Protection Act, passed the full Florida Senate in a vote of 26 -13.

The following is a statement from National Right to Life President Carol Tobias,

We praise the Florida Senate for passing Florida’s Heartbeat Protection Act. A compassionate society protects preborn children with heartbeats.  We commend the Florida Senate for recognizing the humanity of these innocent little ones and encourage the Florida House to pass the bill as well.

We also praise Florida Right to Life, National Right to Life’s state affiliate, for its dedication and hard work in seeing this law passed.

The following is a statement from Lynda Bell, president of Florida Right to Life,

This bill will help protect babies and their mothers. It will keep Florida from becoming an ‘abortion tourism’ state and follows in the footsteps of surrounding states that have passed similar laws. Florida’s bill also provides needed support for pregnant women. This is a great day for babies and their mothers.

Florida’s SB 300 protects unborn babies at 6 weeks gestation except in cases involving the life of the mother or in medical emergencies. The bill also has exceptions in cases of reported rape, incest, or human trafficking or if there is a fatal fetal condition.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

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