CNN's Kaitlan Collins promoted abortion pills as safe on Tuesday following Supreme Court arguments over the Food and Drug Administration approving the deadly drugs for mail order.
The nine-justice panel is now deciding whether to uphold a decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found the FDA illegally approved expansions for mail-order abortion. The case is being litigated by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a First Amendment legal non-profit, representing the plaintiffs against the government.
In a segment in which she also grilled plaintiff Christina Francis, a board member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Collins pressed ADF President and General Counsel Kristen Waggoner on justices questioning whether the plaintiffs had proven substantive harm from the drugs.
“What the justices were making clear today is that despite what the doctor says, they weren't able to show that they had actually suffered harm from this drug and that they would in the future if it remains available,” Collins said.
Waggoner highlighted the FDA's own label on abortion pills showing “one in 25 women are going to have the visit the emergency room, and up to 7 percent of women are going to have surgical interventions.” All the petitioners are asking for, she noted, is for women to have contact with a doctor before they induce a miscarriage at home.
“We're told that it's safe, that no one has the right to challenge the FDA. And this is the same FDA that told us that opioids were safe to use for chronic pain and that surely no one would get addicted,” Waggoner added.
Collins responded by claiming “penicillin is more dangerous than mifepristone, and that's plenty used in the United States. That's not being argued before the Supreme Court,” Collins said.
Waggoner responded by going through FDA statistics, explaining “that up to 7 percent of women are going to have surgical interventions. In just 2020, the FDA said that an in-person doctor visit is not only minimally burdensome on a patient, but it's necessary.”
“And they explicitly said that thousands of women are presenting with severe complications as a result of taking this drug,” Waggoner said. Collins responded by again claiming the drug is “safe,” then retreated from that topic by talking about whether the justices would allow the case to be brought.
Federalist Reporter Jordan Boyd expanded on mifepristone's safety Tuesday, noting “data showing mifepristone is responsible for a 500 percent increase in abortion-related emergency room visits for complications such as hemorrhage, 'fast, weak pulse,' 'shortness of breath,' diarrhea, dizziness, headache, vomiting, and 'pain' across the back, arms, neck, and abdomen, and a myriad of other risks.”
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