U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine
Description: By eliminating necessary safeguards for pregnant girls and women who undergo the dangerous mifepristone abortion drug regimen, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration failed to abide by its legal obligations to protect the health, safety, and welfare of girls and women.
US Supreme Court to hear arguments Tuesday about the FDA's recklessness
WHO: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Erin Hawley, vice president of the ADF Center for Life and Regulatory Practice; Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists; and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach
WHAT: Press conference following oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine
WHEN: Immediately following oral arguments, which begin at 10 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, March 26
WHERE: Outside U.S. Supreme Court, 1 First St. NE, Washington. To schedule an interview, contact ADF Deputy Director of Media Relations AnnMarie Pariseau at (480) 417-3975.
WASHINGTON – Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Erin Hawley, who will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists, and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach will speak at a press conference outside the court immediately following oral arguments Tuesday.
The case concerns the FDA’s unlawful removal of critical safeguards for the use of chemical abortion drugs. Starting in 2016, the FDA began recklessly removing in-person doctor visits to check for ectopic pregnancies, severe bleeding, and life-threatening infections. It also removed reporting requirements that once provided doctors, women, and the public with better information about the serious risks associated with abortion drugs. ADF attorneys are asking the court to affirm the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit’s decision holding that the FDA acted unlawfully when it removed these safeguards.
“Women should have the ongoing care of a doctor when taking high-risk drugs. The FDA betrayed women and girls when it unlawfully removed the necessary in-person doctor visits that protected women’s health and well-being,” Hawley said. “The FDA’s own label for abortion drugs says that roughly one in 25 women who take them will end up in the emergency room. Yet the federal government continues to defend its reckless actions that jeopardize women’s health and safety. Women deserve better, and we look forward to advocating on their behalf at the Supreme Court tomorrow.”
ADF attorneys represent doctors, medical associations, and their members who are witnessing firsthand the harms inflicted by the FDA as they are called on to provide emergency care for many women facing crises because of the FDA’s reckless actions.
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.
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ABOUT Erin Morrow Hawley
Erin Morrow Hawley serves as senior counsel and vice president of the Center for Life and regulatory practice at Alliance Defending Freedom. Before joining ADF, Hawley practiced appellate law at Kirkland and Ellis LLP, Bancroft LLP, and King & Spalding LLP. Hawley has litigated extensively before the U.S. Supreme Court as well as numerous federal courts of appeals and state courts of last resort. She also worked at the U.S. Department of Justice, serving as counsel to Attorney General Michael Mukasey. As an academic, Hawley served as an associate professor of law at the University of Missouri and she also taught constitutional law as a senior fellow at the Kinder Institute for Constitutional Democracy. Hawley is a former law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Hawley received her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University and her law degree from Yale Law School where she served as a Coker Fellow in Constitutional Law and on the Yale Law Journal. She is an active member of the Missouri and District of Columbia bars and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and various federal courts of appeals.
ABOUT Erik Baptist
Erik Baptist serves as senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, focusing on administrative litigation and regulatory advocacy. Before joining ADF, he was a partner at Wiley Rein LLP—one of the largest law firms in Washington, D.C.—where he employed his expertise in administrative and environmental law to represent clients on litigation, regulatory, and enforcement matters. Prior to working at Wiley, Baptist served as a senior executive service political appointee at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As the senior deputy general counsel and deputy assistant administrator, he directed EPA’s litigation, implemented groundbreaking rulemakings and policies, represented EPA and defended witnesses in response to congressional inquiries, and collectively helped oversee the work of more than 1,100 EPA lawyers, scientists, and staff. He earned his B.A. from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. Baptist is an active member of the D.C. Bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and various federal courts of appeal.