Rebecca had expected anti-abortion backlash when she started working in America. But getting a letter from the FDA was weird. The FDA doesn’t regulate doctors — and they definitely don’t regulate doctors in Austria, where Rebecca is now based.
Rebecca: I’m a doctor. I work under my jurisdiction. I’m allowed to write these prescriptions and the women can fill these prescriptions by a pharmacy where that can be done. And actually it’s my duty as a doctor when people in need of care and medical care reach out to me. I have the duty to help them if I can. And that’s what I’m doing. That’s that’s what I will continue to do and that’s what I’m doing.
Rebecca has continued her work. When we asked the FDA whether they were going to do anything about it, they told us they couldn’t comment on potential future actions, but that they remained concerned that Aid Access was bypassing, quote, “important safeguards designed to protect women’s health.”
A little while after the FDA sent their letter to Rebecca, 118 members of Congress sent a thank-you note to the FDA commissioner. All but one of them were Republicans. And only ten of them were women … or, fewer than the total number of Jims, Mikes, and Steves.
