Heartbeat International weighed in to defend women and their unborn children from chemical abortion in federal court this week. Heartbeat, alongside 23 U.S. states, numerous pro-life groups, and the West Virginia attorney general, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to uphold the state’s Unborn Child Protection Act (UCPA).
With limited exceptions (i.e.: nonviability, ectopic pregnancy and medical emergency), the UCPA makes it illegal to perform, induce or attempt to perform or induce an abortion, as Heartbeat’s brief in GenBioPro v. Raynes states, and further, it “expressly includes abortions performed or induced via “medicine” or “drug.””
Chemical abortion drug manufacturer GenBioPro is seeking in the case to invalidate West Virginia's ban on chemical abortion by arguing that the state law is "preempted" by the FDA’s approval of mifepristone.
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West Virginia replaced its earlier abortion regulation with the Unborn Child Protection Act in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision. The Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs that states may regulate abortion for “legitimate state interests” including, among others, “respect for and preservation of prenatal life at all stages of development,” “the protection of maternal health and safety.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, along with attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), petitioned a federal district court in February 2023 to uphold the state’s UCPA and other pro-life legal provisions, ADF reports. In August 2023 the court partially dismissed the lawsuit, upholding the UCPA, and then GenBioPro appealed the case to the 4th Circuit.
GenBioPro makes the generic version of mifepristone, the first of two drugs in the chemical abortion regimen. Mifepristone blocks progesterone in a pregnant woman’s system, depriving her unborn child of necessary nutrients. The second drug, misoprostol, taken a day or so later, causes her to go into labor and deliver her presumably deceased child.
GenBioPro, along with abortion pill manufacturer Danco, has funded groups behind clinical trials and studies of the abortion pill that claim the drug is both safe and effective, Live Action News reports.
Both drug companies have weighed in on the FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case before the Supreme Court in which pro-life doctors are challenging the FDA’s questionable approval of mifepristone and subsequent loosening of its own safety standards for the drug, the drug manufacturers filing briefs or petitioning in support of the FDA and/or against the pro-life medical professionals seeking to protect women from chemical abortion drugs.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in FDA v. AHM March 26 and a ruling is expected before the Supreme Court breaks in June for the summer.
Heartbeat International, the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally, had filed an amicus brief in FDA v. AHM as well, arguing the FDA lowered the standard of care for women in relaxing its abortion pill safety standards.
Heartbeat’s General Counsel noted regarding GenBioPro v. Raynes how the abortion industry frames FDA authority to meet its needs in each scenario.
"Just a few weeks ago, we heard oral argument in FDA v. AHM, where those in favor of abortion contended that no one would have standing to challenge the FDA's removal of safety protections for women,” Danielle White said. “Now, the abortion industry claims that those same unelected bureaucrats at the FDA can overrule a state's elected representatives and prevent them from protecting women and their unborn children from the dangers of chemical abortion.”
“The Fourth Circuit should affirm the district court's dismissal of this case," White said.
Heartbeat, represented by legal non-profit Thomas More Society, argued in its April 15 brief for GenBioPro v. Raynes that the district court correctly determined that FDA regulations related to mifepristone do not preempt the UCPA and other state law, and that the FDA’s regulations leave significant gaps in protections for pregnant women, and asked the court to affirm the parts of the earlier district court’s ruling granting the State of West Virginia’s motion to dismiss.
Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey called on the courts to uphold the law over abortion special interests and to respect the right of states to protect women and children through the abortion regulation.
“We trust the courts will see clearly that we are the United States of America and not the United States of Abortion,” Godsey said.
“Big Pharma and Big Abortion are working hand in hand to thwart the will of the people,” said Godsey. “West Virginia, or any state in the union, should have the right to protect the health and well-being of its women and its smallest residents, the babies in the womb.”
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Editor's note: Click HERE for more information on the different briefs filed in GenBioPro v. Raynes. Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News.
