Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA enforced a set of rules called the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS). The rules required that women seeking abortion pills receive them directly from a medical professional during an in-person visit, preventing them from being prescribed over the phone and sent to women through the mail.
Pro-abortion advocates and officials used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to "temporarily" lift those restrictions. They argued that requiring women to see doctors and pharmacists in-person could spread COVID-19. Many pro-lifers (rightfully so) worried that easing regulations in this way would eventually result in those regulations being lifted altogether.
REMS regulations protected not only the unborn but also the women who sought abortion pills. If they don't first see a doctor, women could be at higher risk for potentially-deadly complications such as hemorrhaging. During an in-person visit, doctors will have the opportunity to accurately identify the child's gestational age and diagnose any pregnancy conditions such as ectopic pregnancy. If a woman attempts the abortion pill regimen after 10 weeks gestation, or if she attempts it while having an ectopic pregnancy, she would be at a significantly higher risk of severe complications.
“The FDA’s decision today places women at risk,” said Carol Tobias, President of the National Right to Life Committee. “These changes do not make this abortion process safer for women. What these changes do is make the process easier for the abortion industry.”
Tobias continued, “The FDA knows the dangers of this abortion drug combination, but in the name of political expediency, has lifted the safety measure requiring an in-person doctor’s visit.”
National Right to Life released an article detailing the rule change more fully. In that article, they also describe remaining federal regulations on abortion pills and just how dangerous the pills can be. Click here to read their analysis.
