FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2023
Contact: Colleen McCabe (colleen@caminopr.com or 917-410-7240)

SCOTUS ruling rightly protects integrity, independence of FDA’s evidence-based decision making 

The next reproductive health product the FDA will consider is over-the-counter status for oral contraception

WASHINGTON — Today the Supreme Court announced that it will halt an extremist Texas judge’s ruling in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA that would reverse a 23-year-old, evidence-based Food and Drug Administration approval of medication abortion. 

The ongoing specter of political and judicial interference in the FDA’s independence may have implications for other women’s healthcare products. Historically, reproductive health technologies have had a politicized, lengthy FDA approval process — including medication abortion and emergency contraception. As the political pressure on FDA deepens, the agency is poised to make a groundbreaking decision on whether to allow oral contraceptives to be purchased over the counter without a prescription.

The FDA has scheduled an expert vote on May 9-10, 2023, on the application to make Opill, a  progestin-only “mini-pill” contraceptive, available without a prescription. Following the mini-pill decision, the FDA is expected to review an application for the most commonly used birth control pill to achieve over-the-counter status. Advocates already have expressed concerns about the slow pace of progress through the FDA process.

The Catholic Medical Association — the group that founded Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine — is also campaigning against the application for Opill to receive FDA approval for over-the-counter status. The Catholic Medical Association, along with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has urged the FDA not to approve the Opill application for over-the-counter status, despite overwhelming consensus among leading medical groups in favor of approval. There is also concern that other products, such as emergency contraception, may become a target of the extremist judiciary.

Contraceptive Access Initiative Co-founder Dana Singiser expressed concern about the ongoing efforts to undermine the FDA’s integrity.

“The FDA can only function as an independent, evidence-based decision maker when it is free from interference by religious ideology and political agendas,” Singiser said. “We are glad that even this conservative court recognized this principle and rebuffed an extremist judge’s ideologic opinion. However, this does not change the fact that reproductive health care products once again are being singled out and targeted in unprecedented fashion not based on medicine, but motivated by personal religious and cultural belief.” 

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The nonprofit Contraceptive Access Initiative (CAI) advocates for increasing access to hormonal contraception over-the-counter, free from stigma, bias and coercion. Follow CAI on Twitter @ThePillOTC.