Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has filed a lawsuit against Sage Publishing after the academic publisher retracted three studies on the risks of abortion drugs, following a complaint about the authors’ pro-life views.
The studies, authored by a team of professional researchers between 2019 and 2022, were peer-reviewed and published in Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology (HSRME), a medical journal by Sage. The studies were praised by the journal’s editor-in-chief as valuable contributions to scientific knowledge. However, after two of the studies were cited by a federal court in a ruling against the FDA’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, an anonymous complaint was filed, citing the authors’ pro-life affiliations.
Despite the authors fully disclosing their affiliations during the review process, Sage decided to retract all three studies in 2023. The publisher justified its decision by claiming potential conflicts of interest and flaws in its peer-review process, though the authors refuted these claims in a detailed response. Sage failed to address these scientific rebuttals, ultimately removing one of the authors, Dr. James Studnicki, from the journal’s board.
In response, ADF filed a motion in October 2024 to compel Sage to participate in arbitration, as required by its contract with the authors. The retractions have resulted in significant damage to the authors’ reputations and career opportunities. ADF argues that Sage’s actions represent an unjustifiable censorship of scientific research, depriving the public of important information on the risks associated with abortion drugs.
By DNU Staff