Although there are a variety of lawsuits pending in the country pertaining to medication abortion, there is only one that is trying to simultaneously eliminate medication abortion while upending legal norms and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) ability to safely regulate drugs without political interference: Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA.
Medication abortion has been approved for decades and proved to be safe and highly effective in a plethora of medical trials and studies throughout the years. Approved for use until 10 weeks of pregnancy, the method now accounts for more than half of all abortion care in the United States. It is particularly critical for individuals who cannot afford or are unable to travel for clinical care.
Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA is a controversial case, not just because of the meritless claims put forth to eliminate medication abortion and undo the congressionally mandated power of the FDA. Far from being just an abortion case, this is a lawsuit with implications for the potential politicization of medicine overall—one that highlights the dangers posed by a federal judicial system willing to upend legal precedent in the pursuit of ideological goals.
Please join the Center for American Progress for a discussion on the multitude of issues brought forward in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA; legal arguments for protecting medication abortion in regard to both this case and other lawsuits in the United States; and the path forward to meaningful abortion access in the United States.
Introductory Remarks:
Maggie Jo Buchanan, Senior Director and Senior Legal Fellow, Women’s Initiative, Center for American Progress
In conversation:
Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, (D-TX)
Patrick Gaspard, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
Panelists:
Professor Naomi R. Cahn, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Law; Co-Director, Family Law Center, University of Virginia School of Law
Skye L. Perryman, President and CEO, Democracy Forward Foundation
Professor Allison M. Whelan, Assistant Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law
Moderator:
Sabrina Talukder, Director of the Women’s Initiative, Center for American Progress