The Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Mandy Cohen was recently given a platform to preach “reproductive health access” in an interview with TIME Magazine — and her choice to comment on the matter is almost as strange as her actual comments.
Why is any member of the CDC, let alone the director, making statements about abortion access? Pregnancy isn’t a disease, and abortion is definitely not a cure.
Perhaps the CDC’s newly minted director is confused because the Food and Drug Administration has been working for years to change the narrative of pregnancy to a disease, an essential requirement for the Chemical Abortion Pill, mifepristone, to be pushed through the accelerated new drug approval process for “life-threatening” conditions in late 2000.
However, the CDC definition of disease is “sickness, illness, or loss of health,” making pregnancy none of the above. Instead, pregnancy is a state of health for a woman’s body and the natural process by which most mammals reproduce. Being able to get pregnant demonstrates a woman’s ovulatory cycle and hormone levels are functioning normally. If infertility is characterized as disease, the opposite state of pregnancy must be health.
All things Dr. Cohen should know — yet she marches on with her radical abortion stance, lamenting the recent rulings to reinstate safety measures for the Chemical Abortion Pill.
(It's also interesting that she never actually says the word ‘abortion,’ clearly afraid of being associated with the term. But if abortion is a “best practice,” let’s not be afraid and hide behind linguistic façade.)
She also notes the increasing distrust of the CDC by the American people, asserting that the intended role of the agency is to be a “trust partner” instead of a sociopolitical adversary. As polls show lack of approval for the agency, Cohen blames it on a broad disbelief of science.
She may want to take a good, long look in the mirror, however, because scientific misinformation is exactly why much of the American people no longer respect the CDC. If we truly want to see rebuilt trust, the agency is going to have to stop lying about the realities of abortion — starting with Chemical Abortion drugs.
While Dr. Cohen decries the earlier, tighter Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) for these deadly pills that pro-life advocates are calling for, these restrictions are essential for a drug as dangerous as mifepristone.
This is because women who take Chemical Abortion Pills experience four times as many complications compared to surgical abortions. Chemical Abortions may also lead to hemorrhaging, infection, sepsis, and incomplete or failed abortion. The requirement for mifepristone to be dispensed in-person by a physician is also especially important so that women can be screened for ectopic pregnancies and Rh blood factor.
Chemical Abortions will not end an ectopic pregnancy; if left untreated, the fallopian tube will rupture, and both mother and preborn child will likely die. If a woman has Rh incompatibility and gives birth, has a miscarriage, or has an abortion without treatment, her future pregnancies have a much greater chance of miscarriage and stillbirth.
This is why Dr. Cohen’s stance as a federally platformed public health official is so dangerous. She preaches access to reproductive health care, but when access seriously compromises safety (to the tune of injury, infertility, and even death), we must wonder whether there has been an abuse of power and dereliction of duty.
Rebuilding trust in the CDC looks like standing against the anti-science Biden administration and working to expose the true aftermath of complications caused by abortion. The CDC does have a role to play in women’s health, and it should be one of a protector — not an abuser, exploiting women for political gain and policing those who attempt to speak the truth.
The mental health crisis and nationwide spikes in infertility are just a couple issues Dr. Cohen should be leading in, as well. Cohen acknowledges the mental health issues present particularly in our youth population but should consider the impact of her and other leftist colleagues’ crusade for abortion as it plays out in severe depression, anxiety, and suicide.
Real leaders examine the totality of the facts and use evidence-based reasoning to promote health and prosperity for their people. Clearly, Dr. Cohen has a long way to go, but she can start by acknowledging the widespread abortion damage her agency has long been known to inflict.
Gavin Oxley is Students for Life of America’s Lead Operations Supervisor & Medical/Law Coordinator, as well as the founder/CEO of Future Medical Professionals for Life.