Bristol, Tenn.—April 10, 2023—Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), which is the nation’s largest faith-based professional healthcare association, is praising the order issued last Friday by a federal district court in Texas that will halt the approval of dangerous chemical abortion drugs and protects the health, safety and welfare of women and girls. The court ordered that its decision will not go into effect for seven days to allow the Biden administration time to seek review from appellate courts.

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been entrusted to serve as the nation’s gatekeeper of legal drugs, but by pushing chemical abortion drugs, the FDA has failed to protect the safety of women and girls,” said CMDA Senior Vice President of Bioethics and Public Policy Dr. Jeff Barrows, who is an OB/Gyn. “This decision holds them accountable for their actions, and, more importantly, it protects women and girls from drugs that cause harm.”

The first case of its kind, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration sought to right the wrongs that were made when the FDA illegally approved chemical abortion drugs back in 2000—as well as the harms that have occurred in the decades since by the FDA removing the few safeguards that were in place.

“Chemical abortion has a complication rate four times higher than surgical abortions,” said CMDA CEO Dr. Mike Chupp. “Given that statistic, it’s incomprehensible that the FDA did nothing to correct the dangers our patients face when they take these drugs. Thankfully, the court saw the danger and moved to halt the approval of chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States.”

“This lawsuit is the culmination of decades-long efforts by ADF’s clients to hold the FDA accountable for its irresponsible actions,” said Erik Baptist, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). “Pregnancy is not an illness, and chemical abortion drugs don’t provide a therapeutic benefit—they can pose serious and life-threatening complications to the mother, in addition to ending a baby’s life. The FDA never had the authority to approve these hazardous drugs or to remove important safeguards. This is a significant victory for the doctors and medical associations we represent and, more importantly, the health and safety of women and girls.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights and the sanctity of life. They represented the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and four individual doctors in this case.

Made up of five founding organizations, which includes CMDA, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is dedicated to upholding and promoting the fundamental principles of Hippocratic medicine. These principles include protecting the vulnerable at the beginning and end of life, seeking the ultimate good for the patient with compassion and moral integrity, and providing healthcare with the highest standards of excellence based on medical science.

“A close look at the medical science reveals there are significant risks associated with chemical abortion,” said Dr. Barrows. “The FDA illegally put politics first, but now is the time we put politics aside and put patients first.”

For more information about the case, visit www.adflegal.org. For more information about the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, visit www.allianceforhippocraticmedicine.com. For more information about CMDA, visit www.cmda.org.

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