In 2021, the Biden administration directed the FDA to reverse standing rules for the use of the deadly drug Mifepristone and to allow its use without the woman seeing a medical professional. Before the rule change, women seeking to end the life of their child with drugs were required to have at least two in-person visits with a medical professional. However, the Biden administration ruled that women could receive Mifepristone in the mail with a prescription provided by telemedicine.
This is no small issue. According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, chemical abortions account for 54% of all abortions in the United States. Those numbers were recorded in 2020, and with the fall of Roe they are guaranteed to have risen throughout the country in recent years.
The Facts are Deliberately Being Concealed
Because abortion activists and the media that supports them neglect to expose these dangers of chemical abortion and mischaracterize abortion as “healthcare,” the intention of this article is to inform our base of the truth behind using these drugs.
Many physicians assure women of the safety and success of chemical abortion pills. However, studies have shown it is four times more dangerous than surgical abortions. Most women are not properly warned of the danger or pain.
Serious Side Effects Including Death
The majority of women who ingest Mifepristone and the companion drug Misoprostol, experience heavy bleeding and hemorrhaging. Severe abdominal pain, experienced by most if not all women, and infection are the most frequent life-threatening issues associated with these drugs.
Numerous women have testified of their traumatizing experience with chemical abortion pills, describing the days of pain following ingestion of Mifepristone and Misoprostol. Sometimes completely alone, these women are forced to huddle in the corners of their bathrooms while their child is expelled from their body by force. Women have stated that they believed that they were about to die during their hours of bleeding.
Often surgical intervention is required. There is a high risk of women using “off label” or expired pills which often fail and cause the woman to require medical attention. 86% of women must receive surgery to remove the remains of their dead child.
Some women are incorrectly diagnosed and experience an ectopic pregnancy while taking Mifepristone. This misdiagnosis paired with using an abortion pill has resulted in the death of at least two women.
According to Dr. James Studniciki, lead author of a Lozier Institute peer-reviewed study, ”Good science depends on reliable data. Good medicine depends on an accurate medical history. Abortion advocates are working to undermine both, and it is the women they claim to support who pay the price.”
New York Magazine’s published “Guide to Abortion Access” advises women who are experiencing abortion pill complications, “You are now having a miscarriage; everyone at the ER should treat you accordingly, so avoid mentioning abortion and the pills entirely.”
Additionally, many deaths by chemical abortion are incorrectly documented by hospitals. Women admitted to a hospital with miscoded abortion pill complications averaged more than three total hospital admissions over 30 days. That is 78% higher than the average number of admissions for women whose chemical abortions were accurately coded.
Court Ruling
On August 16, 2023, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that distribution of the abortion pill, Mifepristone, must be restricted. Although the court ordered a ban on telemedicine prescriptions and mail shipments of the drug, the Biden administration has appealed the decision.
This case was originally brought before the court when the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and four pro-life doctors sued the FDA in November 2022. Their argument centered around the dangers of unregulated access to Mifepristone, which not only kills the baby but can kill or severely injure the woman. They have also opposed the manner in which this drug was introduced to the American medical market by the FDA in 2000.
Alliance Defending Freedom has elected to represent this group. They not only hope to reinstate many of the safeguards that once stood between a woman and the pill but also raise awareness of Mifepristone’s dangers.
Although the success seen in the lower courts is encouraging, it is up to us to cover the judges, lawyers, women, and especially the preborn children with our prayers.
Members of the GRTL Newsletter Team
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* Courthouse photo credit: Joe Ravi, CC via Wikimedia Commons