On July 13th,  U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to temporarily suspend enforcement of a rule that requires women to visit a hospital or clinic to obtain a drug used for abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, the FDA appealed the federal ruling, citing the importance of in-person physician consultations for women seeking an abortion. 
 
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a coalition of pro-abortion medical associations and an abortion center. Their experts allege that forcing patients to visit a hospital, clinic or medical office to get an abortion pill needlessly risks their health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chuang’s ruling now allows healthcare providers to arrange for Mifeprex, the first of a two-drug abortion drug regiment, to be mailed or delivered to patients during the pandemic. The FDA challenges the argument that abortion drugs are safe without counseling and are necessary during a pandemic.
 
“The purpose of the in-person dispensing requirement,” the FDA argued, “is not to monitor patients for complications, but rather to ensure that: (1) at the time of dispensing, the patient has the opportunity to receive counseling about the risk of serious complications associated with Mifeprex and what to do should they arise; and (2) there is no delay in the patient receiving their Mifeprex prescription, which could increase the risks of serious bleeding or infection.”
 
Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins noted, “The FDA was eloquent in breaking down the abortion industry arguments in favor of putting women at risk by getting rid of an in-person visit. Using a pandemic as justification for expanding a business that endanger lives is the worst kind of predatory profiteering, but it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from abortion sales teams.”