New York Sens. Kirsten Gilibrand and Charles Schumer have spoken up in support of a ban on a controversial surgical tool and urged regulatory agencies to recall power morcellators as a class.

Power morcellators are a type of tool used in laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is a type of surgery where surgeons use specialized tools to perform the bulk of the surgery inside the patient’s body. This allows surgeons to use smaller incisions, reducing the amount of healthy tissue they need to cut through in order to perform the surgery, theoretically reducing both recovery times and the risk of complications. However, certain types of laparoscopic surgeries using power morcellators allegedly carry their own risks.

Power morcellators come into play when surgeons need to cut out tissue during laparoscopic surgery. The downside to laparoscopic surgery is that the small incisions make it impossible to remove larger pieces of tissue in one piece.

Power morcellators cut tissue into smaller pieces for removal. This makes it possible to perform surgeries like the hysterectomy, the removal of the uterus; oophorectomy, the removal of one or both ovaries; or myomectomy, the removal of fibroids, a sort of benign tumor common in the uterus.

However, evidence has begun to mount that morcellation can sometimes accidentally spread undiagnosed uterine cancer when they tear up uterine tissue.

In April 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Safety Communication, advising surgeons to avoid using power morcellation if they are performing a hysterectomy, myomectomy, or other surgical procedures involving the female reproductive system.

According to their data, as many as 1 in 350 women having a hysterectomy or myomectomy may have undiagnosed uterine sarcomas, a class of cancer that includes leiomyosarcoma. In these women, the FDA states, power morcellators may spread the cancer, quickly producing an advanced state of cancer. The FDA’s actions stop short of a recall, the action the two New York Senators advocate.

The New York senators’ open letter to the FDA urges the regulatory agency to strengthen its stance against power morcellators, moving to a full recall rather than making safety communications.

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson, the leading manufacturer of power morcellators, has decided to recall its own model instead of waiting for further action by the FDA. But while Johnson & Johnson had the leading market share for power morcellators, other companies did make them as well — and continue to do so for the moment.

Morcellation cancer lawsuits have been filed by women who developed advanced cancers after having surgery with power morcellators. These morcellation cancer lawsuits allege that the makers of power morcellators had a duty to thoroughly test and monitor their medical devices for safety concerns. These power morcellator lawsuits further allege that the makers of power morcellators were not only aware of these risks, but actively downplayed them and failed to take quick action to protect the public from the risk of morcellation cancer.