{"id":326382,"date":"2025-02-14T08:50:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T14:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=326382"},"modified":"2025-02-14T01:05:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T07:05:39","slug":"lawsuit-abortion-studies-retracted-justifiable-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/lawsuit-abortion-studies-retracted-justifiable-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"ADF files lawsuit after abortion-related studies were retracted ‘without any justifiable cause’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

A group of 10 research scientists represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has filed a petition in Ventura County Superior Court in California against Sage Publications. The publisher retracted three peer-reviewed, abortion-related studies in 2024 due to the fact that some of the study authors had \u201caffiliations with pro-life advocacy organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Live Action News previously reported<\/a>, “the\u00a0three now-<\/a>retracted<\/a>\u00a0studies<\/a>\u00a0were led by researcher James Studnicki (who\u00a0reportedly<\/a> trained at Johns Hopkins University) and published in Sage\u2019s journal ‘Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology.’ Two were funded by the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), the research arm of the pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America<\/a>. In addition, several of the authors were also associated with CLI.”<\/p>\n

In February 2024, Sage Publications retracted the studies due to “undisclosed conflicts of interest.” According to ADF, the studies were retracted “after a professor submitted an anonymous complaint about the authors\u2019 pro-life views.” However, at the time, two of the three studies were cited<\/a> by plaintiffs in the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine<\/em>\u00a0[AHM]\u00a0v. Food and Drug Administration<\/em> (FDA) lawsuit which called into question the 2000 approval of the abortion pill mifepristone by the FDA. Because these studies directly related to adverse effects of the abortion pill, some questioned if the real reason they were retracted was an attempt to undermine the Supreme Court’s consideration of the case. More information about the retraction of the studies can be found in an analysis<\/a> by Live Action researcher Carole Novielli.<\/p>\n

READ: Is a dangerous double standard at play with studies on the abortion pill?<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a January 2025 press release<\/a>, ADF announced its October 2024 lawsuit, Studnicki v. Sage Publications<\/em><\/a>, calling the retractions “unjustified,” while noting that the study authors disclosed their pro-life affiliations during the study review process \u2014 well before Sage published the studies.<\/p>\n

“By censoring these pro-life authors without any justifiable cause, Sage has harmed the authors\u2019 reputations and deprived the public of objective, honest reporting that these authors can provide,” the release states.<\/p>\n

\u201cSage took action against these highly respected and credentialed scientists because they believe in preserving life from conception to natural death,” said ADF Senior Counsel Phil Sechler. “Sage\u2019s retractions have caused irreparable harm to the authors of these articles, and we are urging Sage to come to the arbitration table\u2014as it is legally bound to do\u2014rescind the retractions and remedy the reputational damage the researchers have suffered.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of 10 research scientists represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has filed a petition in Ventura County Superior Court in California against Sage Publications. The publisher retracted three peer-reviewed, abortion-related studies in 2024 due to the fact that some of the study authors had \u201caffiliations with pro-life advocacy organizations.\u201d As Live Action News […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":186647,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9953,4,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nADF files lawsuit after abortion-related studies were retracted 'without any justifiable cause'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The publisher retracted three peer-reviewed studies because some of the study authors were affilated "with pro-life advocacy organizations.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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