Local professor weighs in on proposed ban of abortion medication

DELMARVA –  Mifepristone is a two-part oral abortion pill used in over 17 states around the country.

Dr. Sam Hoff, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at DSU, questions the reasoning behind the proposed ban.

“This decision is questioning the scientific results of experiments on the safety of this drug but have not confirmed that there have been safety issues,” Dr. Hoff said.

Mifepristone is one of the only FDA-approved abortion medications with minimal side effects.  Judge Kacsmaryk in Texas ruled that the use of the abortion drug would be stopped, effective this Friday. This has created a frenzy of court actions after ruling that the FDA’s approval of a commonly used oral abortion medication should be rolled back.

“We have this decision that seems to go the other way, certainly contradicting public opinion that still supports basic abortion rights,” Dr. Hoff said.

Hoff says if the court of appeals does not approve the pausing of this order, it is likely this case will go directly to the supreme court.  This is a rare route to get to this level of court.

“The allegation is that this seems more political than scientific in terms of the controversy,” Dr. Hoff said

Hoff claims that pro-abortion forces say this is a Federal vs. State issue.

Normally you come from the highest state court or you climb the federal ladder, according to Dr. Hoff. It’s rare to skip the court of appeals from the district courts, but It occurs in matters very much like this case, where you have contradictory decisions with federal judges. Dr. Hoff says it creates immense confusion between protests from drug company leaders and investors.

States are trying to block commerce, which would override concerns about violations of the 10th Amendment.

“I think this is going to add to the cynicism towards American institutions,” Dr. Hoff said. “The fear that some institutionalists have is that it may not get back to the level of respect.”