The Daily Signal - INTERVIEW | Pro-Life Pediatrician Reveals Full Story Behind Cyberattack

Episode Date: May 5, 2023

The American College of Pediatricians scored a major victory last month when a federal judge ruled in its favor and halted the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, a drug used in chemical abortions. Just weeks later, the organization endured a cyberattack carried out by hackers intending to cause major damage. As if that wasn’t enough, news of the hack was then leaked to a hostile journalist in a fleeting attempt to damage the organization’s reputation. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, pro-life institutions and individuals have faced sustained attacks. The militant group Jane’s Revenge vandalized pregnancy resource centers, the FBI arrested a pro-life father in Pennsylvania, and a deranged pro-abortion man plotted an assassination attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh. These unrelenting attacks show no sign of abating. Look no further than the latest assault on the American College of Pediatricians, also known as ACPeds. Dr. Jill Simons, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to explain what happened and why she’s not backing down from her mission to defend life and protect the most vulnerable in our society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am extremely grateful for and overwhelmed by the support that we are receiving. So we are not alone in this and we are going to get through this. And believe me, we are going to be stronger than ever. This is the Daily Signal podcast for Friday, May 5th. I'm Rob Blewey and Happy Cinco de Mayo. That was the voice of Dr. Jill Simons. She's the executive director of the American College of Pediatricians. Her organization scored a major victory last month when a federal judge ruled in its favor

and halted the Food and Drug Administration's approval of Miffa Pristone, a drug used in chemical abortions. Just weeks later, however, the American College of Pediatricians endured a crippling cyber attack carried out by hackers intending to cause major damage. Those attacks have continued and show no signs of stopping. Simons joins the Daily Signal podcast to explain what happened and why she's not backing down from her mission to defend life and protect the most vulnerable in our society. Stay tuned for our interview after this. Want the inside scoop on what's happening here at the Heritage Foundation?

Check out Herd at Heritage and all new show replacing the Heritage Events Podcast. It'll feature cutting-edge analysis and thought from leading experts in and across the conservative movement and of course the Heritage Foundation's premier events and programming. Brought straight to you, check it out at heritage.org slash podcasts. We are joined today by Dr. Jill Simons, a board-certified pediatrician with a distinguished career in the medical field. She has her own private practice in Minneapolis will also serving as the executive director

of the American College of Pediatricians. Jill, I know you have big challenges that you're trying to solve, so we thank you for spending a few moments with the Daily Signal today to tell us what's happening. Thanks for having me on. Before we talk about the hack,

could you first share with us a little bit more about the American College of Pediatricians why you were founded and what it is you do? Sure. So the American College of Pediatricians is an organization, professional organization of pediatricians, mostly, but also family practice doctors and other physicians as well as psychologists and friends of the college who are interested in protecting children. It was founded in 2002, and it was started because several people in leadership at the AAP were. recognizing that the AAP, which is the American Academy of Pediatrics, was drifting from its roots, which was to do the best for children and to remain unbiased politically, to stay true

to medicine and science. So they were drifting from that. So a group broke off and started the American College of Pediatricians in 2002. And since then, our mission has stayed true to that, which is to ensure that all children can achieve their optimal health and well-being. And that includes protecting the family and protecting the doctors who work to protect them and act in their best interests. Our current scope is pretty focused on protecting life, whether it's unborn or pre-born children, all the way to natural death. We're also working hard to protect biological integrity in the face of the transgender

etiology that has just been devastating to many children and families. And then the third thing we're focused on currently is preserving the rights of doctors to practice according to their conscience and do no harm, basically. Well, thank you for taking a moment to explain that because I think it underscores that you are involved in some of the biggest cultural fights of our time. And it's probably no coincidence that your organization would come under scrutiny and a hack like this as a result of some of the positions that you've taken. So let's rewind to late April. What happened? Tell us about the attack and some of the things that you first observed. Sure. And I'll just echo what you said.

They don't want to debate us because they can't beat us on the facts and the science. They can't even beat us on common sense. And so what happened to us last week is, how they're coming after us. Basically, last week there was a coordinated, concerted attack on several of our organizations, key structures, our key technology structures, our databases, our financial account just hit from many angles. It was deliberate. We have security systems in place, just as businesses do.

nowadays. This was above and beyond that. This was, this was professional, like I said, and it was unrelenting. And what they were able to get was some archived information. And from that, they've done some damage. And in this particular case, you know, I understand that any organization, particularly a nonprofit, is susceptible to attacks like this. We've seen this happen before. why is it that you think that this happened now? Do you have any reason behind the motive that may have led the hackers to take this type of action? There's no doubt in my mind that this is related to a few recent bold, brave stances that we've had. One is we're part of the Alliance for Hypocratic Medicine, which recently filed a lawsuit with the FDA against Mithopristone,

or the abortion pill. The American College of Pediatricians is one of the five founding members of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. And since that ruling was announced in the subsequent appeals, our organizations as well as leaderships and Flander-Butter organizations have just been sprayed across the Internet. And I believe they've incited these sorts of attacks. And I speak with many people, not just in the organizations that are part of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, but many of our allies that are fighting similar things standing up for life and biological integrity and consciousness.

And they're all receiving very similar threats. You know, even, you know, very prominent Matt Walsh had a large attack. He's made very public very much along the law. lines. This is above and beyond what, you know, people, businesses could experience cyber-type attacks. This is very targeted. We also, we also receive quite a bit of fan mail, as I like to refer to it, or unfan-mail. And these are just awful letters that come into our office, email letters, and since the FDA case and other things that we've been involved in, This is just escalated, ramped up.

So we're, you know, we're obviously making them nervous. We're obviously making an impression. And when people hear what we have to say and we speak the truth, their only means against that is to just silence us. And so we know we're making a difference and they're trying to silence us. And what keeps you motivated to, you know, show up for work and continue to do the job each day? because I would imagine under these types of threats and attacks that you faced, you could just say, okay, enough is enough.

But you have been very firm in that you're not going to be intimidated and you're not going to go away. Exactly. I'm not telling, I'm not reaching out to people so that they feel sorry for us for these attacks. I'm doing this so that if people are able to step up, speak with us, and help us so that we can continue to push on because we are. And the reason that I do that, you know, it's just being a human being number one. But also as a pediatrician, that's why I went into this to stand up for children to protect them,

not just individually as they come in for, you know, basic childhood ailments, but the bigger picture so that their life is protected and they're protected from these harms. And unfortunately, I'm seeing people in my own profession that are causing harm to these children and their families. And those kids, those that can't speak for themselves, the most vulnerable among us, that's why we all have to speak up. That is just something we must do. Well, and I would imagine that was a significant reason why you made the decision to be involved in challenging the FDA on Mitha Pristone. Can you share with our audience more about that particular case? We obviously have the decision by the U.S. District Judge out of Texas, and then the Fifth Circuit ruled and went all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Where does that case stand right now, and what are the next steps? Yeah, I still can't speak on the specifics of that because it is still ongoing. Alliance defending freedom is who we've been working with on that case, and they can speak more. But we are just encouraged at that ruling and that this is not over and this is still pushing forward. And it is, I believe, you know, some people are frustrated that there are appeals and this may go to the Supreme Court. But I think in the long run, it's going to draw more attention to this. and it's going to let the truth come out, and people who are maybe not in the medical field

or don't pay attention to this will have opportunities to hear about this and realize that this is not a good thing to be offering the Mitha-Pristone and chemical abortions to women and harming their babies. Well, certainly those chemical abortion drugs are increasingly being used,

and of course the FDA allowing them to go out by mail has alarmed a great number of pro-lifers and conservatives. We'll be sure to link to additional coverage ondailySignal.com. We're following your case quite closely. Getting back to the hack itself, I know you have a small team. Your organization, it's been described as having an outsized impact given the size of the organization. What has it been like for you trying to address this with, obviously, tiny support staff and people who in many cases are working full-time as pediatricians and doctors. Sure.

And, you know, because we have limited resources, we've, you know, been functioning that way. However, this has generated support from allies that I am extremely grateful for and overwhelmed by the support that we are receiving. So we are not alone in this, and we are going to get through this. And believe me, we are going to be stronger than ever. So we are, I feel like we are gearing up. And this is definitely not the end of anything. We've just begun to fight.

And this is woken of sleeping dine if you want to use that. I think there's more to us than just the American College of pediatrician. And Jill, how can people support your organization? What are some of the steps that you would encourage them to take? Sure. You can go to our website. it's ac p-ed-ed-s-dot-org and there is a donate button that's the simplest way. There's also a way you can contact us directly if you don't want to do it online

and we'd be happy to take that to work with you. And what advice would you have for other organizations? I mean, we have seen everything from pregnancy resource centers to a father, Mark Hauke in Pennsylvania, you know, come on. under attack since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Militant groups like James Revenge have v. Parkhawk, of course, was arrested by the FBI. Now this with your organization.

So what message do you have for others who are in this fight and want to protect life? So there's safety and numbers, and we do have the majority on our side. There is a huge silent majority waiting in the wings that are too afraid, you know, to step forward and to either come alongside us or speak out publicly. So I would encourage all those, especially pediatricians or other people who agree with us to start vocalizing that and to stand together, not only with us, but other organizations because, you know, we may be small individually, but together we are quite a big force. and, you know, if they're not coming for you, they're coming for, you know, your neighbor.

And so it's important to speak up and to help each other out. And on that particular point, you are an organization of pediatricians. I would imagine that it's been an opportunity for you to maybe reach even more Americans who are in this profession who want to join forces with you and believe in the mission that you're advocating. How can doctors particularly get involved with your organization? Oh, certainly. I mean, this, you know, this has raised an awareness for our group like we never could have done on our own with advertising. This has really pushed us into the forefront of this fight against all these things.

Doctors, you know, there is a way to get involved with ACPs. You can join as a member. We have different levels of members. Some are more outspoken. Some follow along silently, help us behind the scenes. Many universities and institutions that these doctors belong to have been pressuring doctors who join that they will lose their faculty appointment or, you know, lose their job. And so we are helping those pediatricians if that happens. but we're also just encouraging you.

There's a place here. There's many behind the scenes. And so there's a way you can still help us. Wonderful. Well, Jill, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed on everything that's happened and taking the time to speak with the Daily Signal today. We certainly appreciate the work of the American College of Pediatricians and we'll be following your situation closely in the days to come.

Please keep our audience up to date and let us know how we can help in the future. Thank you for having me. Thank you for giving us an additional place to have our voice heard. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to The Daily Signal podcast. If you haven't had a chance, be sure to check out our evening show right here in this podcast feed, where we bring you the top news of the day. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcasts.

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