The abortion movement has long insisted that the preborn baby is not a person worthy of protection and basic human rights, generally avoiding the scientific facts about life in the womb, and the facts about potential complications for women — all while consistently claiming to be a guardian of women’s welfare. The abortion industry says abortion must remain legal and in the hands of professionals for safety reasons… yet the latest push by abortion advocates is to expand abortion by means of unsupervised, at-home medication abortions. This effort calls into question the abortion industry’s claim to have women’s best interests at heart.
In the unrest surrounding the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, abortion groups have capitalized on public fear to push “self-managed” medication abortions as a “safe” option for women. Recent examples of the push for “DIY” abortions can be seen in the Guttmacher Institute’s public policy paper, Planned Parenthood’s new three-part strategic plan that includes expanding telemedicine, and the establishment of Aid Access. While Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion business, has not yet unleashed large-scale telemedicine, the Guttmacher Institute claims this model is “not as far-fetched as it might sound.”
Indeed, with Aid Access — an extension of the Canadian-based Women on Web, which has been illegally shipping abortion pills to women worldwide for years — this model is already a reality. Women on Web tends to target pro-life countries that have laws protecting the lives of preborn children. The group, founded by Rebecca Gomperts, claims these at-home abortions are “safe,” and relies on legal loopholes to operate. While Women on Web has previously not shipped to the United States, Gomperts established Aid Access earlier this year to send abortion pills to women in the United States. With a 78% follow up rate, Women on Web claims that they are providing “safe” abortions. Of the thousands of women represented in that 78%, 6.8% of women required follow-up surgical abortions after the abortion pills failed.
There are also many other organizations selling abortion pills online. In addition to Aid Access, the Charlotte Lozier Institute has identified at least 72 unique websites that sell the abortion drug regimen, either misoprostol alone or misoprostol and mifepristone.
READ: Abortion pill dangers are unknown because half of U.S. states don’t report complications
The Atlantic quotes University of California, San Francisco professor Daniel Grossman — who has deep ties to the abortion industry — as saying “it doesn’t appear that women are having serious complications.” This is anything but reassuring. Women who purchase abortion pills online have at times been instructed to go to emergency rooms claiming they are miscarrying if complications occur. We have no way of knowing how many women are truly experiencing problems following at-home abortions. Plus, only half of states require reporting abortion complications from any type of abortion, so there are few statistics available about medication abortions overseen by abortionists.
Gomperts told the Atlantic that she established Aid Access to shield Women on Web from any oversight in the United States — clearly a strategic move, as the FDA is currently investigating Aid Access. The commonsense investigation is being labeled as anti-abortion extremism. The Daily Beast noted:
… the FDA said one of the drugs–mifepristone–is not legally available over the internet. The agency said they take claims that mifepristone is being sold online “very seriously,” and are “evaluating the allegations to assess potential violations of U.S. law.”
Gomperts says the reason she founded Aid Access was because of the number of requests for the abortion pill. She said, “I got an email from a woman who was living in a car with two kids. Something had to be done.” Something absolutely must be done, but is sending a homeless woman pills for a DIY abortion really helping her, or doing harm? After this mother of three kills one of her children, she will still be living in her car in need of community assistance.
Here’s what occurs in a medication abortion. Dr. Anthony Levatino explains the process in this video:
The first pill, mifepristone, also known as RU-486 or Mifeprex, blocks the pregnancy hormone progesterone, cutting the baby off from nutrients. 24 to 48 hours later, misoprostol, also known as Cytotec, is taken to induce cramping, contractions, and heavy bleeding.
While abortion supporters have claimed the abortion pill is “like having a period,” many women’s experiences are much more intense. One woman described the abortion pill as “the worst experience, the most physically and emotionally painful thing, that I’ve ever been through.” Others have bled for months following a medication abortion. If there is no physical exam performed, the abortionist cannot rule out ectopic pregnancy. If a woman is experiencing an ectopic pregnancy, the abortion pill can result in life-threatening complications.
Without physical exams, women could be accidentally taking the abortion pill at later gestations, and there is little known about the potential complications and outcomes of this. Studies show that these “self-managed” abortions have many shortcomings and flaws, some of them outlined here.
