A team of scholars has launched a lawsuit against a publishing company for retracting a series of research papers on the dangers associated with abortion pills, asserting that these retractions were politically motivated. This legal action, initiated by ten members of the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute against Sage Publishing, accuses the publisher of breaching California’s contract laws by pulling three specific studies from their journal, two of which focused on the risks of abortion pills, earlier this year.
The purpose of the lawsuit is to compel Sage into arbitration over the retractions that took place in February. Dr. James Studnicki, the institute’s vice president and director of data analytics, has stated that these retractions have tarnished the researchers’ reputations and violated the principles of ethical scientific publication. According to Sage’s retraction notice, the decision for an independent review came after a complaint was made, suggesting that the data were misleading and pointing out the authors’ association with the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute. Dr. Studnicki, who had been removed from the editorial board of Sage’s Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology journal prior to the retractions, labeled Sage’s decision as driven by political bias.
One controversial study, released on November 9, 2021, noted a “500% increase in emergency room visits linked to chemical abortions from 2002-2015,” based on Medicaid data. Another piece of research from May 2022 delved into the issue of women making repeated emergency room visits without disclosing their chemical abortion to doctors. These research findings had been cited in federal court debates concerning the suspension of mifepristone’s FDA approval.
The topic of abortion pill risks received additional attention last month when Kamala Harris, a Democratic presidential candidate, inaccurately stated that a woman in Georgia had died due to an abortion ban, when in fact, the cause was linked to the use of mifepristone. Despite these highlighted risks, drugstore chains such as CVS and Walgreens had earlier announced their plans to distribute the medication.
