Journal publisher Sage Publications has retracted three articles that analyzed datasets and concluded the abortion drug mifepristone was harmful.
All three of the articles appeared in the journal Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology.
According to a press release from Sage, the studies were retracted because of “undeclared conflicts of interest and after expert reviewers found that the studies demonstrate a lack of scientific rigor that invalidates or renders unreliable the authors’ conclusions.” The press release specifically notes that the authors of the articles had failed to disclose their ties to “pro-life advocacy organizations that explicitly support judicial action to restrict access to mifepristone.”
The articles had also been reviewed by someone affiliated with one of the “pro-life advocacy organizations.” A review of the authors’ conclusions found “fundamental problems with the study design and methodology; unjustified or incorrect factual assumptions; material errors in the authors’ analysis of the data; [and] misleading presentations of the data.”
The authors of the articles were informed of Sage’s decision on November 13, reported The Post Millennial.
The retraction of the articles comes just weeks before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on March 26 in a case considering the constitutionality of banning abortion drugs, according to PM.
Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) — one of the “pro-life advocacy organizations” listed by Sage in the press release — is pushing back against Sage for retracting the studies. In a statement, CLI said, “Sage has advanced no valid objection to their findings and has shown no evidence of any major errors, miscalculations, or falsehoods. … There is no legitimate reason for Sage’s retractions.”
Dr. James Studnicki, lead author of the articles and director of data analytics at CLI, told The Daily Wire that the retractions were “completely unjustified.”
Dr. Ingrid Skop, vice president and director of medical affairs for CLI, told The Post Millenial, “This case has been painted as a pro-life vs. pro-abortion case, but in its essence, it is about the FDA performing its job to protect the American public from dangerous drugs.”
Studnicki told The Daily Wire that since Roe vs. Wade was overturned, pro-abortion advocates have been pushing back against research that threatens the ability to obtain an abortion.
“I think Dobbs really accelerated this, I think there’s a sense of desperation among those in the abortion industry,” he said, per The Daily Wire. “They’ve always had the literature to themselves. All of the major health associations are pro-abortion, most of the journals are pro-abortion, all the academic departments in the universities are pro-abortion.”
In light of the decision to retract the articles, Studnicki was removed from the editorial board of the Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology journal, according to PM.
“This is the greatest testimony to the strength of our science that one could possibly hope for. We are doing all the right things. We intend to continue to do the right things, but it’s probably going to be harder to get things published because they are trying to tarnish our reputation,” Studnicki told The Daily Wire.
Sage declined The Daily Wire’s request for comment, referring the news organization to the statement that was previously released.
