‘It’s an ethical violation’: American Medical Association makes rare political move by SUING North Dakota to block two new anti-abortion laws
- The group is suing the state of North Dakota in a rare political move
- As of August 1, doctors in North Dakota will be obliged to tell patients that medical abortions can be reversed
- They will also have to say that they are ending ‘the life of a living human being’
- The AMA says both claims are ‘patently false’ and ‘unconstitutionally forces physicians to act as the mouthpiece of the state’
- North Dakota is one of six states with just 1 abortion clinic left
The American Medical Association – usually on the sidelines in controversial, political debacles – has waded into the debate over abortion access by suing to block anti-abortion laws in North Dakota.
The group, representing all board-certified physicians in the US, said it now feels compelled to get involved to prevent ‘ethical violation[s]’.
It is doing so by suing the state of North Dakota, where, as of August 1, doctors will be obliged to tell patients that medical abortions can be reversed.
The group is also suing to block another law, ordering doctors to tell any women considering an abortion that they will be terminating ‘the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.’
AMA President Patrice Harris slammed the first law as ‘a patently false and unproven claim unsupported by scientific evidence’.
He said the second ‘unconstitutionally forces physicians to act as the mouthpiece of the state.’
These are the six states with just one abortion clinic remaining: the Dakotas, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Mississippi. It has put pressure on providers in Kansas and Illinois, where half of patients receiving abortions come from out of state
‘The patient-physician relationship is the cornerstone of health care, and depends upon honest, open conversations about all of a patient’s health care options,’ Dr Patrice A. Harris, MD, said in a statement.
‘North Dakota’s law undermines this relationship by requiring physicians to mislead and misinform their patients with messages that contradict reality and science. The AMA will always defend science and open conversations about all health care options available to patients.’
North Dakota is one of the six states that have just one abortion clinic left.
Red River Women’s Clinic in the capital of Fargo sees around 1,150 patients a year.
A majority of the procedures are done using first mifepristone – which blocks the progesterone needed to sustain a pregnancy – and misoprostol – which contracts the uterus to push out the aborted fetus.
According to the ‘abortion reversal’ law, signed by Republican Governor Doug Burgum in March, doctors are to tell women that they can stop the abortion by ingesting the hormone progesterone after taking the first of two pills to complete the abortion.
There is no scientific evidence to support that claim, which is credited solely to one controversial, anti-abortion doctor in San Diego called George Delgado.
Dr Delgado insists he has had patients who changed their mind half-way through, took progesterone after mifepristone, and went on to have healthy pregnancies.
No other published or recognized studies have found the same.
And yet, Dr Delgado’s claims have provided a bedrock for states trying to limit abortion to input more barriers that may deter women – with Kentucky, Kansas and Nebraska considering similar legislation.
Tammi Kromenaker, director of Red River Women’s Clinic, told NBC: ‘North Dakota’s laws are forcing us to say things that violate our medical ethics and are simply false and not backed up by science.’