Researchers Behind Abortion Pill Studies Land In Hot Water With Science Journal
HuffPost
The studies raised questions about the safety of the drug mifepristone, the most common method of ending a pregnancy.
Two studies used to justify a crackdown on mifepristone access were retracted Monday by the scientific publisher Sage over undeclared conflicts of interest with anti-abortion groups and a “lack of scientific rigor” used in the research.
Both of the studies have been used by anti-abortion plaintiffs and conservative federal judges in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA to cast doubt on the Food and Drug Administration’s longstanding approval of the drug, which is used in the most common method of abortion in the United States.
The case is scheduled to go before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.
The academic publisher said in a statement that it took a closer look at the studies in response to a reader’s concerns.
“Sage confirmed that all but one of the article’s authors had an affiliation with one or more of Charlotte Lozier Institute, Elliot Institute, and American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, all pro-life advocacy organizations, despite having declared they had no conflicts of interest when they submitted the article for publication or in the article itself,” the publisher said.