The Illinois House of Representatives has passed a bill that would keep abortion pills legal within the state even if the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) declares them unsafe. The bill also serves as a “shield law” to protect abortionists from disciplinary action for violating the health care laws of other states if those acts are legal in Illinois.
House Bill 3637, passed on Monday, would amend the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to ensure that a drug’s FDA approval does not affect its approval and ability to be used within the state — as long as the World Health Organization approves it. While the bill itself does not single out abortion drugs, the bill’s authors made it clear that abortion is what they are aiming to protect.
“We want to make sure when it comes to this particular issue, that FDA approval for medication abortion would not, or actually if the FDA were to take this medication out of its FDA approval, that it would not still ban or limit access to medication abortion in Illinois,” Rep. Dagmara Avelar said during debate on the House floor. She added, “What I would say is that, FDA approval for medication abortion, if the FDA revokes that, we would still in Illinois be able to have these drugs.”
The amendment “Provides that a drug’s status as not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shall not cause it to be deemed an adulterated drug in violation of the Act if it is recommended for use by the World Health Organization (rather than if its safety and efficacy have been established by peer-reviewed research or if it is recommended for use by the World Health Organization).”
READ: A partial victory for pregnancy centers in Illinois means their ‘fight is far from over’
It also provides that no disciplinary or non-disciplinary action may be taken…
“… against a person’s authorization to practice… based solely upon the person’s involvement in any health care service, so long as the care was not unlawful under the laws of the State… if that form of discipline was based solely on the person violating another state’s laws prohibiting involvement in any health care service if that health care service would not have been unlawful under the laws of the State and is consistent with the applicable standard of conduct for a person practicing in Illinois under those Acts.”
This portion of the bill also does not limit such “health care services” to abortion, and could reasonably include other controversial acts deemed “health care” in Illinois.
Rep. Bill Hauter, a doctor who practices emergency medicine and anesthesiology, slammed the bill and called it outrageous, arguing, “We are saying that approval by the World Health Organization but active rejection because of safety by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be able to be prescribed in Illinois.” He added:
We have to stop this sort of breaking down all of the safety mechanisms we have around abortion. There has to be some safety mechanisms, whether it be in the abortion clinic or with abortion mechanisms. Do not reject the authority of the U.S. Federal Drug Administration. This is an important safety mechanism. This bill would reject that. This is unprecedented in my mind.
The Biden administration continued to weaken REMS, eliminating requirements for the drugs to be dispensed in person altogether, which now allows them to be sent through the mail. Retail pharmacies are also now permitted to dispense the abortion pill.
While safeguards and non-fatal adverse event reporting are eliminated, the abortion industry and media continue to tout it as safe — even called safer than Tylenol, though the facts say otherwise.
Known side effects women may experience are severe cramping, contractions, heavy bleeding, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and headaches. One recent study found that women were unprepared for and uninformed about how painful the chemical abortion process would be.
Other studies have found the abortion pill regimen to be four times more dangerous than a first-trimester surgical abortion; additionally, approximately 6% of women in at least one study experienced complications severe enough to require an emergency room or urgent care visit.
In actuality, that number could be even higher, as women are encouraged by the abortion industry to lie to emergency room providers and say they are experiencing natural miscarriages, as opposed to abortion complications… which then misattributes those complications to miscarriage instead of abortion. The “no-test” abortion pill protocol is even riskier for women, as the lack of an ultrasound or blood tests fail to confirm a preborn child’s gestational age, or rule out extra-uterine pregnancies or other contraindications that may put the mother at risk.
This bill, along with the state’s continued fight against pro-life pregnancy centers, makes it clear that Illinois lawmakers don’t care about the safety of women; the only thing that matters is the availability of abortion.
