Member Update: Abortion Push in a Biden Administration and More

Dear Webmaster220, In this member update we want to take some time to reflect on the past year and plan ahead for what a new presidential administration might mean for us all. In 2020 AAPLOG has undergone phenomenal growth. When most of our outreach activities to physicians through in-person conferences were cancelled due to Covid-19, AAPLOG undertook six months of strategic planning under the volunteer guidance of a world class strategic planning team and the support of some generous donors. The ensuing reflection sharpened our vision for the key roles AAPLOG plays for our membership and the wider medical and policy communities, and led to three top imperatives that AAPLOG will focus on in 2021 - 2023. Our top imperative is You. We want to greatly enhance the value of AAPLOG membership for you and we have some exciting plans for membership activities in 2021. In addition, if you have ideas about how AAPLOG may better serve you, now is the time to let us know by emailing communications@aaplog.org. AAPLOG's second top imperative is to further excellent research into the effects of elective abortion on women, on their preborn children, and on medical practice. We will be reviewing and expanding our practice bulletins and committee opinions and make these even more available to members and others interested in accurate information on these topics. Our third top imperative  is dissemination of  information to AAPLOG members as well as to the academic, legal and policy communities so that the impact of elective abortion on society can be seen for what it is. Our work together at AAPLOG is especially important in this upcoming year. Fifty years of work to protect both of our patients: mothers and their preborn children, is being rapidly undermined. The examples of this are many, but we would like to highlight here a few of the challenges we will be facing together with you in 2021: The complete radicalization of ACOG The new ACOG  Committee Opinion "Increasing Access to Abortion" articulates the abortion industry wish list, including: eliminating all laws that in any way protect women or their preborn children from the harms of abortion; eliminating pain capable abortion bans; eliminating bans on elective abortions performed after the preborn child could survive outside of the womb; eliminating all informed consent and parental consent laws; forcing the use of taxpayer dollars to subsidize elective abortion procedures....the list goes on. With this new committee opinion, ACOG uses your membership dollars to push for the most radical abortion agenda this country has ever seen. Were you asked about your opinion on these issues? The impending change of Federal policies:  On his campaign website, President-elect Biden lists a number of goals and promises to the abortion industry, mirroring the ACOG Committee Opinion cited above. These promises include:  Forcing tax payers to pay for elective abortion by repealing the Hyde Amendment.  Restoring federal funding for Planned Parenthood's elective abortion machine.  Rescinding the Mexico City Policy (also referred to on the website as the global gag rule) which cut off funds to providers of elective abortion overseas.  Restoring the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate, which would force Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for drugs like ulipristal (Ella) that are labelled as "contraceptives" but in fact act end the life of an embryo both before and after implantation.  Planned Parenthood is already recommending abortion advocates in places of power within the Biden Harris administration. They've teamed up with more than 50 progressive pro-abortion groups compiling a list of  nearly 300 people slated for roles in the administration.   Effects on conscience violations reported to the Office of Civil Rights One critically important office slated for change is the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Office of Civil Rights rests within HHS. Violations of the rights of healthcare professionals to practice according to their conscience are made to the Office of Civil Rights, which can chose to enforce or not enforce our conscience protections. It takes little imagination to see that the population of OCR with pro-abortion ideologs will pose a direct threat to our ability to practice Hippocratic medicine. Christina Francis, MD, chair of AAPLOG's board of directors, was able to comment in a statement in MedPage Today: "Hippocratic medical practice means that we do not intentionally hurt or kill our patients. Any administration that opposes the right of physicians to practice according to Hippocratic principles will only worsen this situation." Effects on FDA and Mifepristone REMS When mifepristone (Mifeprex, RU486) was approved, FDA put in place post-marketing restrictions that were later codified as the REMS. Some of these restrictions included in-person dispensing of mifepristone in a physician's office, limitation to 49 days gestation and tracking of complications, among other things. While the Obama administration reigned, the FDA hollowed out the existing REMS and allowed for dispensing of Mifeprex up to 70 days gestation, with no requirement to report any adverse events except deaths. But they did not completely remove the REMS altogether.  The continued existence of any REMS at all on a drug prevents over the counter dispensing and limits the ability of online pharmacies to dispense. Thus the REMS are the last obstacle in the way of the abortion industry's ultimate goal: complete de-medicalization of abortion unfettered by involvement of the medical profession. During the Covid-19 epidemic, the abortion industry, with the full support of ACOG, used a Maryland federal judge to "temporarily" overturn the FDA REMS, an unprecedented move in the pharmaceutical industry, to say the least. In July, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang agreed to suspend the rule that required women to visit a hospital, clinic, or medical office to obtain an abortion pill. Almost five months later, Chuang refuses to lift or limit the scope of that order. Chuang denied the Trump administration's request to reinstate a rule that would require women to visit a hospital, clinic or medical office to obtain an abortion pill during the Covid-19 pandemic. How hard the FDA will fight this massive judicial overreach depends completely on who is in the Office of the President, since the FDA is a federal agency under the authority of the Office of the President.    An Atlantic article explains the next steps. It is extremely likely that in early 2021 there will be unfettered and FDA-sanctioned online availability of Mifepristone without any physician oversight or involvement. This will mean that the complications from Mifeprex abortions - hemorrhaging, infections, retained tissue, etc. - will all be dumped in your lap, via the ER. We encourage you to read  AAPLOG Practice Bulletin 8 on Medical Abortion to understand the implications of this impending drastic policy change.  We also urge you to read AAPLOG Practice Bulletin 6: Reversal of the Effects of Mifepristone by Progesterone so you will be prepared to accurately counsel the woman who has taken mifepristone and regrets her decision.   COVID Vaccines and Ethical Issues Although the rapid development, approval, and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines is important, the current vaccines approved  nevertheless have not been in testing or use long enough to provide robust safety data. The current Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) responsibly limits the use of the Pfizer vaccine to individuals at highest risk, including health care workers.   It is truly irresponsible for ACOG to advocate, without robust safety data, for the administration of Covid-19 vaccines to pregnant women, who are clearly not in a high risk category for death from Covid-19, nor is there sufficient testing in pregnant women to give evidence for the safety of this vaccine to her fetus. It is worth questioning the hierarchy of ACOG as to why their organization would produce such a scientifically irresponsible advocacy document. A statement was recently released, signed by AAPLOG, American College of Pediatricians, Catholic Medical Association, and Christian Medical and Dental Associations, that discusses several vaccines that are making their way to approval by health officials and use by the public. The statement was used for further discussion of ethical vaccination production in an Aleteia article.  The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are mRNA vaccines that do not use abortion derived fetal cells in the production of the vaccine. However, all of these manufacturers used abortion-derived fetal cells in their animal-phase testing.  AAPLOG and other medical groups call on vaccine manufacturers to prioritize ethically sourced production and testing of vaccines which do not involve the use of human tissue derived from electively aborted fetuses.  Now, for some solutions! Medical Institute for Sexual Health, New National Standards The Medical Institute for Sexual Health exists to provide science-based education that changes behaviors and influences lives. Their hope to recruit as many individual physicians, counselors, researchers, etc. who will endorse their new standards and allow their names to be added to the growing list of like-minded professionals who support an optimal health approach to relationship and sexual health education.  CLICK HERE to endorse the Standards- a short survey to share name, contact information, and permission to publish. AAPLOG launching new Practice Bulletin/Committee Opinion topics If you would like to be involved in the production or review of new AAPLOG Practice Bulletins and Committee Opinions,  please contact Cara@aaplog.org If you don't have time to participate, please consider partnering with us in financial support. Please consider a year-end gift.   We are glad to be a part of standing with you in the  challenging years ahead. We will be standing with you to defend the lives of your pregnant patients and their preborn children. Thanks for standing with us. For Life, Donna Donna J. Harrison, M.D. Executive Director American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists www.aaplog.org Life. It's why we're here. Classified Ads Professional Endorsements Needed -- New Sex Education Standards Medical Institute for Sexual Health (www.medinstitute.org) is leading a national coalition that has developed new national education standards for "optimal character, relationships and sexual development" of school aged children. The new science-based standards uphold primary prevention and optimal health for all school children and are critically needed to counter harmful "comprehensive sex education." Medical Institute is seeking individual medical providers to endorse the project set to go public in February. To review the standards and consider endorsing, please contact the organization at standards@medinstitute.org. As a dues-paying member, you can email us to post your job needs here. These posts are available for dues paying members to see by logging in to the members only website and clicking on "members" then "classifieds" in the drop down menu.   To post your classified ad, please email us...  email communications@aaplog.org Patient Education Brochures Did you know we created a set of brochures for our members to help educate patients on the effects of abortion on their physical and mental health. We have worked with Kinetic Media LLC, a design and print company to offer these brochures for you to purchase and pass out to your patients. We have arranged special AAPLOG member pricing so that you can purchase these brochures at a large discount. There are 4 Main Patient Education Brochures along with an AAPLOG Information Brochure. Each brochure is available in English & Spanish. To learn more, click the button below. LEARN MORE OFFICE: 202 230-0997,  ADDRESS: PO Box 395  Eau Claire, MI 49111-0395 Website • Facebook • Twitter Unsubscribe

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