While some states around the country are cracking down on abortion pill access, Delaware lawmakers have taken steps to make it more readily available, passing legislation that broadens who is able to prescribe the dangerous regimen.
While the state currently requires physicians to write abortion pill prescriptions, House Bill 320 would allow physicians’ assistants and advanced practice registered nurses to prescribe mifepristone and misoprostol, the two drugs that make up the chemical abortion cocktail. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. John Carney, who has not given any indication of whether or not he will sign it.
One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, touted the procedure as safe, but the facts tell a different story.
The abortion pill procedure begins when the woman first takes mifepristone, which blocks progesterone and starves the preborn baby of nutrients. Typically one to two days later, the woman follows that with misoprostol, which causes contractions and bleeding, forcing the child from her womb. The procedure comes with a multitude of side effects, including cramping, heavy bleeding, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and headaches, many of which women face alone at home.
Data has shown that the abortion pill procedure is four times more dangerous than first-trimester surgical abortions, and studies reveal that emergency room visits have skyrocketed due to abortion pill complications. Expanding this risky procedure outside of the oversight of doctors only increases the risk and danger to women.
READ: Poll: Most Americans want significant abortion restrictions, oppose abortion pills by mail
During an earlier debate, proponents of the bill claimed it was necessary because there is a shortage of physicians, and women are therefore waiting too long to access the abortion pill. One spokeswoman from Planned Parenthood claimed that it can take women at least 24 days to see a doctor who is willing to prescribe the chemical abortion regimen.
In his opposition to the bill, Senator Bryant Richardson told The Dialog that he sees few bills “that cause me to lose sleep. We’re talking about a bill to end human life. I think as a society we ought to do better than that.”
The Dialog reports that the Delaware Catholic Action Network had also lobbied heavily against the bill. “Consistent with the Church’s fundamental belief in the sanctity of life, we oppose House Bill 320 and any legislation that would further promote access to abortion,” it said.
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