Policy / Urge the Court to Protect Life in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA

Urge the Court to Protect Life in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA

Southern Baptists affirm every life is worthy of protection and is created in the image of God. We believe life begins at conception, and that abortion denies precious human lives both personhood and protection. Scripture is clear that every person is made in the image of God—including the unborn—and his knowledge of the unborn even precedes conception (Jer. 1:5; Psa. 139:13). Furthermore, the Baptist Faith and Message affirms that “children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord” and calls us to advocate for the preborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life, from conception to natural death.

The federal government has an important role to play in permitting or denying access to chemical abortions. Through federal funding, the approval of various chemical drugs like mifepristone through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and implementing conscience protections, the federal government has the ability and the moral obligation to cultivate a culture that protects vulnerable preborn lives.

The ERLC has previously asked the FDA to categorize the abortion pill mifepristone as an “imminent hazard to the public health.” In 2021, the FDA permitted local retail pharmacies to dispense abortion drugs, furthering the accessibility of these life-taking drugs and placing more vulnerable people at risk. Following the 2022 Dobbs decision, chemical abortions continued to increase in response to state laws being enacted prohibiting or restricting surgical abortions.

In 2023, the case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA in the Fifth Circuit challenged the approval of abortion pills by the FDA. As the case has progressed, pre-2016 protections have been implemented, which would require in-person consultations with a physician, limit the use of the abortion drug mifepristone to within the first 7 weeks of pregnancy, and entirely cease mail-order distribution of abortion drugs. While these measures are not a full reversal, as originally intended with this lawsuit, these are still vital measures that would protect mothers and preborn children.

The ERLC is now urging the Supreme Court to uphold the Fifth Circuit’s decision and reinstate these important safety precautions that will save preborn lives and protect women. The ERLC continues to advocate and to pray for the full dismantling of the mail-order abortion industry.