Read NAF's letter regarding the nomination of Grace C. Becker to be the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.
The record shows that President Bush has nominated over 200 anti-choice judges to the federal bench, has made a host of other anti-choice appointments to non-judicial posts, has enthusiastically signed anti-choice legislation passed by Congress, and has used his administration to further policies limiting access to safe and legal abortion. Read a chronology of Bush's actions to restrict reproductive freedom.
The Food and Drug Administration, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, has been asked by anti-choice groups to withdraw its approval of mifepristone, also known as RU-486, or, alternatively place unnecessary restrictions on its use. Their requests lack any scientific basis and must be denied.
NAF and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) submitted to the FDA a response to these requests. This document is a comprehensive and extensively referenced discussion of the proven safety of mifepristone. There is no medical reason to change the existing provider qualifications and protocols for ultrasound. The safety and efficacy of mifepristone has been proven time and time again. Since the FDA's approval of mifepristone in 2000, more than 840,000 American women have used mifepristone to safely terminate an early pregnancy.
Recently there have been concerns about the politicization of the FDA's decision-making process, specifically with its denial of over-the-counter availability of emergency contraception. The FDA needs to make decisions based on clear and concise medical evidence rather than bow to the political pressure of anti-choice advocates. NAF urges the FDA to deny these unsubstantiated claims and unreasonable requests.
> Full text of the NAF and PPFA comments to the FDA
(PDF file, 1.0 MB)
> Executive summary (PDF file, 44K)
> Original citizen petition by anti-choice groups (PDF file)
> Population Council and Danco Laboratories' opposition
(PDF file)
> Follow-up response by the petitioners (PDF file)
Find out about Congressional attacks on mifepristone
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