OPINION: As Alaska medical providers, we find the ruling banning mifepristone unacceptable

As experts on the use of FDA-approved medications, we are writing to you, citizens of Alaska, to support and show concern for your rights to health care. Last week, mifepristone, a part of necessary health care, was ordered off the market by a judge in Texas, threatening your right to comprehensive health. We are providers of reproductive health care who know that mifepristone is safe and effective. The practice of medicine should be guided by up-to-date clinical standards, research and evidence, not politics.

Alaskans may associate Good Friday with any number of somber memories, but this Good Friday, April 7, 2023, marked a new age in how we as providers can take care of our patients — that’s you. This year, a group of political extremists successfully petitioned a judge to throw away over 20 years of evidence and attempt to remove access to mifepristone for all Americans.

This radical ruling had a mere seven-day stay before taking effect, creating a chaotic landscape for medical providers who are trying to advise and care for our patients. Removing mifepristone from the market would be a major political maneuver that places personal opinions and agendas ahead of truth and ethics.

We want you — our patients, our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers and our families — to know that we are here to stand by you. We will continue to advocate for your human rights to comprehensive reproductive health care. We will continue to provide legal, medically necessary care to you, and we will support each other through these uncertain times. Using mifepristone, whether for medication abortion, pregnancy care or miscarriage management, is basic health care and is a personal medical decision that everyone should be able to access when and how they need it, regardless of the politics of a few powerful players.

Medical professionals trained to use mifepristone as part of essential care support Alaskans, no matter what happens in court with the recent ruling. We know that our profession is under attack, that the rights of Alaskans’ families are under attack, and that the ruling to remove mifepristone from the market is unacceptable.

Signed,

Robin Holmes, MD; Courtney Amundson, CNM; Joseph Piper, CNM, APRN; Jessica Young, MD; Megan Young, DO; Charles Procknow, MD; Sonja Martin Young, CNM, APRN; Amanda Beery, MD; Tanya Pasternack, MD; Renae Blanton, MSN, FNP-BC; Craig Hinkle, MD; Gail Norton, MD; Rachel Samuelson, MD; Brittany Strickland, DO; Maude Vance, MD/Ph.D.; Toby Currin, DO; Tania Hall, DO; Ann Jennings, MD; Alisa Vickrey, MPAS, PA-C, FAIHM; Sarah Roberts, MD; Kinzea Jones, PA-C; Kami Hutchins, FNP-C; Kaia Pearson, MD; Kathryn Ault, CNM, APRN; Natalia Saprykina, MD, FACOG; Zonas Safari, FNP; Sarah Spencer, DO; Tim Lemaire, DO/MHP; Sylvia Moses, MD; Peek Ehlinger, MD; Susie Dietz, MD; Ashley Franklin, MD; Kelsey Campolong, MD; Tina Tomsen, MD; Christina Rodriguez, MD; Karyn Nunez, MD; Stacey Maddox, DO; Toni Biskup, MD, MPH; Stephanie Chen, MD; Jan Whitefield, MD; Sadie Marden, MD, MPH; Travis Nelson, MD; Ellie Hogenson, MD; Gwenyth Crabtree, MD; Juliana Shields, MD; Patti Clay, MD; Ailinh Tran, MD; and Monique Child, MD.

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