Ted Cruz comes under fire for FDA abortion letter calling pregnancy 'not a life-threatening illness'

[TexasTowelie]

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is facing criticism for a letter he and a group of 20 Republican senators sent to the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn on Tuesday that said pregnancy is “not a life-threatening illness” as they push to remove the abortion pill Mifeprex from the market.

“The abortion pill does not cure or prevent any disease. Make no mistake, Mifeprex is a dangerous pill,” Cruz said in a tweet Wednesday.

Link to tweet

As the COVID-19 pandemic limited access to in-person doctor appointments, abortion-rights advocates called for the FDA to alter its risk evaluation strategy for the pill, arguing that the policy, which required a woman be prescribed the pill in person, made it more difficult for a woman to acquire it. A federal judge suspended the rule in July.

The letter responded to that order, saying it undermined the FDA’s authority to protect citizens from harmful drugs. The lawmakers called the abortion pill “deadly” and a “hazard to the public health,” noting that the pill was fast-tracked through the FDA approval process during President Bill Clinton’s administration in a process usually used for “drugs that address life-threatening illness like AIDS.”

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/09/03/ted-cruz-comes-under-fire-for-fda-abortion-letter-calling-pregnancy-not-a-life-threatening-illness/