Three Colorado boards of medical professionals reportedly encountered criticism from pro-abortion lawmakers after they refused to declare whether abortion pill reversal is a generally accepted standard of practice.
Instead, they said it would evaluate reversals on a case-by-case basis rather than following the state legislature in branding reversals as a whole as unprofessional conduct. The state had passed a law applying penalties for medical professionals who prescribed the reversal but said those could be avoided if the state medical, pharmacy, and nursing boards all created rules “finding that it is a generally accepted standard of practice to engage in abortion pill reversal.”
Live Action News previously reported on how the law encountered a setback when a federal judge ruled earlier this year that Bella Health and Wellness, a pro-life clinic, was temporarily exempt.
According to Colorado Politics, two of the bill’s sponsors criticized the boards for purportedly not following their instructions.
“Your only task was to determine if at this time, in the practice of medicine, abortion pill reversal is a generally accepted standard of practice, scientifically based,” said Rep. McCormick, D-Longmont, said at a meeting of the three medical boards on Friday. “If you are able to say that, then that is what goes into the rules. Otherwise, the law stands as is and abortion pill reversal is considered unprofessional conduct.”
Each of the boards’ statements contained wording stating they wouldn’t treat abortion pill reversal as a “per se” act of unprofessional conduct or something that warranted discipline.
For example, the medical board’s statement read:
The Board will not treat medication abortion reversal as a per se act of unprofessional conduct. Rather, the Board will investigate all complaints related to medication abortion reversal in the same manner that it investigates other alleged deviations from generally accepted standards of medical practice under section 12-255-120(1), C.R.S. Licensees are expected to practice evidence-based medicine, and any licensee who provides unscientific treatments that fall below the generally accepted standard of care may be subject to discipline.
According to Colorado Politics, the three boards will continue meeting and accepting public feedback.
Abortion pill reversal utilizes the hormone progesterone to counteract the effects of mifeprex, which deprives the preborn child of nutrients. Interestingly, a Huffington Post writer recently claimed that “Self-managed abortion and a natural miscarriage are medically indistinguishable.” If this is also the accepted position of medical professionals, then utilizing progesterone to reverse the effects of the abortion pill (low/blocked progesterone) should be as medically uncontroversial as utilizing progesterone to help in the prevention of miscarriage.
Heartbeat International, which runs the abortion pill reversal network, reported last year that more than 3,000 lives were saved through the practice. A peer-reviewed study from 2018 found the reversal was between 64% and 68% effective.
