It seems like practically every day, Democratic President Joe Biden deals another blow to the legacy of former Republican President Donald Trump's legacy.
This week, Biden added a new item to the list of Trump's administrative achievements has dismantled.
Reversing Trump's previous directive, abortion medications will now be available by mail, enhancing women's access to safe abortion. And it's got pro-life conservatives absolutely outraged.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was suspending guidance put in place by former President Trump which required women to access abortion medications only via an in-person doctor's visit, despite the ongoing pandemic.
Because of the pandemic, the Trump administration directed providers to allow most other prescription medications—including highly addictive opiates—to be prescribable via telehealth visits and accessible by mail.
But the hormone-blocking pills used to induce medication abortions, misoprostol and mifepristone, were left off of this list, supposedly because of "safety" concerns.
But the medications have fewer documented complications than common medications like the antibiotic penicillin and the erectile-dysfunction medication Viagra, both of which have been available by mail during the pandemic. This discrepancy left many suspicious the Trump Administration was deliberately punishing women for having abortions by making access more difficult and dangerous during the pandemic.
FDA acting commissioner Janet Woodcock announced the reversal of the policy to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on Monday, citing studies show conclusively that at-home induction of abortion from medication without a doctor's visit or supervision did not appear to pose any increased risk.
Despite this, pro-pro-birth conservatives immediately began decrying the Biden administration's move on the false claim it endangers women's lives.
There is no truth to their claims.
Many in the medical community and on the left applauded the Biden administration's decision
The FDA's reversal comes in the wake of the Supreme Court having upheld the Trump-era rules earlier this year, following lower-court legal challenges to the policy last summer.
