GOP Leader Questions Planned Parenthood's Effort to Undermine Federal Limits on Abortion Drug's Use
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and nine other Republican members of the U.S. House are backing an amicus brief filed by Americans United for Life (AUL) in support of efforts by the State of Ohio to stop abuse of the deadly RU-486 abortion drug.
"By their own admission, abortion providers are administering RU-486 in a manner that violates the safety standards that were articulated by the FDA when it approved the drug," Boehner said. "This abuse is symptomatic of an abortion industry that is more concerned about profits than it is about women's health. The State of Ohio is well within its rights and acting in the interests of its people in seeking to ensure the FDA standards are fully enforced for this deadly drug, which should never have been legalized in the first place."
"I applaud Americans United for Life for filing this amicus brief in defense of families in Ohio and throughout the nation," Boehner said. "I'm also troubled that Planned Parenthood, an organization that receives millions in taxpayer money from the federal government every year, is leading the effort to undermine federal standards for RU-486 and expand the reckless and unsafe use of this deadly abortion drug."
Planned Parenthood is the sponsor of a lawsuit that has kept Ohio's proposed RU-486 law from being enforced. The state's attorneys argue the law is constitutional. The case is currently before the Ohio Supreme Court.
A 2007 report in the Weekly Standard chronicled Planned Parenthood's "burgeoning RU-486 practice." According to the report: "Six women are known to have died in this country between 2003 and 2006 after taking the abortion pill, whose generic name is mifepristone and which was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in 2000. Four of those six received the drug at Planned Parenthood clinics, where it was - and still is - administered in a fashion that does not comply with the FDA's protocols."
The amicus brief supported by Boehner is available online via a page on the Americans United for Life website. Other Members of Congress backing the brief include U.S. Reps. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Dan Burton (R-IN), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Robert Latta (R-OH), Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA), Jean Schmidt (R-OH), and Chris Smith (R-NJ).
HT: from the Corner
Americans United for Life previously released the following related statement:
Chicago, Illinois -- Americans United for Life (AUL) today filed an amicus brief on behalf of ten U.S. Representatives supporting Ohio's regulation of the deadly abortion drug, RU-486.AUL President Dr. Charmaine Yoest stated, "RU-486 has a proven track record of ruining and even ending women's lives. We must put a stop to abortionists' dangerous, off-label use of this drug. Ohio's statute is a step in the right direction, and as we argue in our brief, it should be upheld."
Added Denise Burke, AUL Vice President & Legal Director, "Abortionists readily admit to dispensing RU-486 in a manner contrary to the FDA's approved protocol. This puts women's health and lives at additional risk, and demonstrates yet again that the abortion industry puts profits above women's health."
Abortionists filed suit challenging the law, arguing Ohio's regulation of RU-486 is unconstitutional because the regulation's requirements are unclear. The State of Ohio and AUL counter that the Ohio regulation is definitive in its requirement that abortionists can only use the RU-486 drug regimen in the way in which it was tested by the FDA, which is clearly laid out in the drug manufacturer's instructions that accompany the drug.
"The argument that abortionists don't know how to correctly dispense RU-486 is nonsensical," stated AUL Staff Counsel Mailee Smith. "Physicians routinely follow the protocols approved by the FDA and described in manufacturer's instructions when dispensing other drugs. Ohio's regulation simply requires that abortionists do this with RU-486."
AUL's brief before the Ohio Supreme Court is available at http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/Rogers_v_PlannedParenthood.pdf and was filed on behalf of U.S. Representatives Roscoe Bartlett (MD), John A. Boehner (OH), Dan Burton (IN), Steve Chabot (OH), Trent Franks (AZ), Jim Jordan (OH), Robert E. Latta (OH), Joseph R. Pitts (PA), Jean Schmidt (OH), and Chris Smith (NJ).
In a related case challenging the same Ohio law, AUL filed a brief on behalf of a U.S. Senator and several U.S. Representatives before the Sixth Circuit. That brief is available at http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/AUL-PP_v_Strickland.pdf
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