Trust Women applauds Oklahoma medication abortion ruling

Yesterday, August 10, District Judge Patricia Parrish ruled that Oklahoma’s law regulating medication abortion is unconstitutional.  Julie Burkhart, founder and CEO of Trust Women issued the following statement:

“Judge Parrish’s ruling has protected Oklahomans’ access to necessary reproductive health care.  The law unfairly targeted medication abortion by trying to force doctors to use only the label instructions when offering patients medication to end their pregnancies.  It is a common practice to use drugs in ways that are not mandated by the FDA label but that are based on medical evidence.  This allows doctors to use their medical knowledge to provide the best health care to their patients.

"The FDA regulations limit the time period that women can access medication abortion and require women to take more medication than is medically necessary.  Through years of prescribing these medications, doctors have found that other regimens are just as effective as and easier on patients than the FDA requirements.  Laws that discount doctors’ medical opinion in relation to abortion are not designed to make women’s health care safer, but rather, to make it more difficult for women to access reproductive health care and abortion.

"Oklahoma lawmakers have wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars in their repeated attempts to restrict access to medication abortion. It is this kind of folly and hubris that have made Oklahoma one of the worst states for women’s health care and quality of life.  I call on lawmakers to work to make health care more accessible for all Oklahomans."

Trust Women opens clinics that provide full-spectrum reproductive healthcare, including abortion services, in underserved communities so that all women can make their own decisions about their health care. Trust Women works to expand access in the Midwest and the South.

The Gayly – August 11, 2015 @ 7:50am.