The American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNS (AAPLOG) Action sent a letter Friday to GOP officials urging them to question President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees about their stance on late-term abortion and to investigate the safety of the abortion pill.
AAPLOG’s letter asks Republicans consider the importance of pro-life causes during the confirmation hearings of Dr. Marty Makary, the nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the nominee for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) director and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The organization called for the administration to revisit the safety of the abortion pill, which has already faced several legal challenges due to claims that numerous precautions were ignored in order to rush its approval.
“As you know, HHS has the most influential role of any governmental agency over those of us practicing life-affirming medicine and in ensuring the protection of conscience rights,” the letter, shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation, reads. “As such, the leaders of the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and HHS overall are vitally important nominees for our confidence in the advancement of life-affirming policies over the next four years. We are heartened to hear the positive reports regarding the meetings many of you have had with these nominees on these topics.”
The medical organization proposed the nominees be asked to commit to enforcing stronger safety regulations around the abortion pill mifepristone and that they reconsider allowing the drug to be prescribed through telehealth. The nominees should also be asked to stand up for conscience rights for medical students and state a gestational limit they would impose on abortion, the letter stated.
Nominees are also asked to uphold “[t]ransparency, not ideology” when it comes to research and data surrounding abortion, according to the letter.
“[A]s practitioners who are committed to excellent healthcare for all our patients, both born and preborn, these priorities are non-negotiables for us,” AAPLOG’s letter said.” We look forward to the confirmation process and hearing more about these nominees’ positions and commitments to transparency in healthcare and advancing protections for life-affirming medicine, medical professionals, and our patients.”
Several doctors have already challenged the safety of the abortion pill, claiming the FDA ignored safety protocols to approve the drug and warning of the risks associated with allowing the pill to be obtained online without a doctor’s prescription and mailed. In one such legal challenge, the Supreme Court in 2024 sided with the FDA, ruling that while the pro-life plaintiffs lacked standing, they had “sincere legal, moral, ideological, and policy objections to elective abortion and to FDA’s relaxed regulation of mifepristone.” The court also claimed it was “the wrong forum” for the debate.
Trump has vowed to leave abortion decisions up to the states following the fall of Roe v. Wade, declining to endorse a federal ban of the act. RFK Jr. has also voiced disapproval of federal abortion bans before the point of viability.
The Biden Administration has upheld a pro-abortion stance and has shown hostility towards pro-life activists, using the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute several individuals who protested near abortion clinics.
“After four years of threats to conscience rights and a lack of regard for the health and safety of our patients, we look forward to working with the new administration and finding common ground to improve patient safety,” APPLOG CEO Dr. Christina Francis told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “These priorities outline real opportunities to improve the lives of our patients and advance life-affirming medical care.”
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