A controversial abortion drug rushed through the government’s approval process by the Clinton administration has killed nearly two dozen women and produced serious adverse effects in thousands of others, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch. Nearly 100 women who took the drug (Mifeprex) had ectopic pregnancies, the records show, and hundreds of others required blood transfusions and hospitalization. Judicial Watch has investigated the government’s handling of Mifeprex, also known as RU-486, since the Clinton administration aggressively shoved the abortion pill through the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval process in an effort to appease radical pro-abortion activists.
Back in 2006 Judicial Watch published a special report based on thousands of pages of FDA and National Archives documents showing the Clinton administration’s aggressive drive to thrust the abortion pill to the market in the United States despite warnings of its hazards. Judicial Watch uncovered that the abortion pill was fast-tracked under the “Accelerated Approval of New Drugs for Serious or Life-threatening Illnesses,” a measure that was adopted for use in rare cases to encourage the manufacture and importation of drugs designed to treat life-threatening diseases such as cancer or heart disease. Over the years physicians have warned of Mifeprex’s dangers and some have called for banning it. In a piece published by a mainstream newspaper more than a decade ago, an obstetrician warns that Mifeprex is deadly and explains that it obtained government approval because five standard procedural and scientific requirements to prove safety and effectiveness were circumvented to get it onto the market quickly.
In 2016 the FDA caved in to calls from liberals to make Mifeprex easier and cheaper to obtain and last year a powerful leftist group sued the federal government to make the drug more widely available. The change by the government two years ago increased the use of Mifeprex from 49 days of gestation to 70, slashed the recommended dose and cut the number of doctor visits. To support the expansion of the drug’s availability, the civil rights group suing the FDA cites the agency’s public assessment of Mifeprex, saying that the abortion pill “has been increasingly used as its efficacy and safety have become well-established by both research and experience, and serious complications have proven to be extremely rare.” The records obtained from Judicial Watch tell a different story.
The FDA summary table recently obtained by Judicial Watch shows that between 2000, when the agency approved Mifeprex, and 2017, the drug killed 22 women. Ninety-seven others had ectopic pregnancies, which can cause life-threatening bleeding, and 4,185 reported adverse effects from using the drug. More than 1,000 women were hospitalized after taking the abortion pill, 598 required blood transfusions and 411 suffered infections, some requiring hospitalization for two to three days. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Still, the four states have laws on the books that could be implemented if Roe is overturned and the issue of abortion is left to individual states. In Louisiana, a 2006 act banned all abortions statewide, except when a mother’s life is threatened. It also would punish anyone who performs or aides in an abortion with up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $100,000 fine. In Mississippi, the banning of abortion would take place 10 days after the state’s attorney general determined in writing that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe.
In North Dakota, the law banning abortion states that the “statute becomes effective on the date the legislative council approves by motion the recommendation of the attorney general … that it is reasonably probable that this act [banning abortion] would be upheld as constitutional.”
In South Dakota, the law would become “effective on the date that the states are recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court to have the authority to prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy.”
Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and Wisconsin have laws against abortion that were completely or partially blocked by state courts based on Roe v. Wade. If Roe is overturned, state officials could file lawsuits asking the courts to activate the bans.
21 states have restrictions as to when a pregnant woman can get an abortion based on how far the fetus has developed. According to The Guardian, 24 states have pro-life legislators. – READ MORE
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