If your friend or loved one was distraught, having just taken the first of two abortion pills, and there was information that could change her hopeless, helpless feelings of regret, would you want her to have access to it?
Just think how powerful it is to be able to console her in that moment with, “It may be possible to reverse the effects of the chemical abortion pill.” Life-changing words to countless women so far.
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Currently approximately 40% of all abortions in the U.S. occur through the abortion pill. Pregnancy Help News (PHN) has reported on laws designed to defend women’s rights to informed consent before an abortion, including knowing this information.
PHN quotes Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Denise Harle in that, “Every woman deserves to know the whole truth about abortion, and that includes the facts about her child and the choices she can make every step of the way.”
Christa Brown, Heartbeat International’s Director of Medical Impact agrees that, “They don’t give up that right when they seek an abortion. Denying women the truth denies them real choice.”
It is a battle. In fact, you may believe our nation is headed for civil war. Some believe we are already in the midst of it.
Regardless, there are polarized ideologies and just as with our nation’s first civil war, the divides take place across political lines seeping into communities and even tearing apart families.
Benjamin and Kirsten Watson’s newly released documentary, “Divided Hearts of America,” details this battle. The heart of the film is to explore how we can come back together.
When people are divided, reconciliation only happens when at least one side is willing to reach out across the divide. This requires understanding.
In our original civil war, slavery was the central issue. One side saw the humanity and oppression of slaves and fought on their behalf. The other side saw the battle as a threat to their way of life.
In order to stand for slavery, individuals had to see those enslaved as less than, or even not human. Consider how deceived you must be to hold onto and even fight for that belief.
In my opinion, abortion supporters are largely unaware of their kindred spirit with slavery advocates. They are no less deceived in their beliefs, starting with an unwillingness to see the unborn as human.
Whether you understand it as sin, evil or Satan, it is the enemy of our soul which God Himself warned Cain about in Genesis 4:7. It lies in wait, eager to control your heart and mind.
Pro-abortion men and women will likely not be won over by our arguments. But if we are willing to understand their oppression, by our common enemy, through the deception which holds their hearts and minds, there is hope for reconciliation.
This viewpoint enables me to better grasp what is otherwise incomprehensible.
For instance, the opposition to Abortion Pill Reversal (APR). The rhetoric abortion advocates have always used centers on “a woman’s right to choose.” So why would you want to hinder her options so that she could not change her choice?
On September 29, 2020, a federal judge temporarily blocked a Tennessee law that requires doctors to inform patients seeking medical abortion that the procedure could be reversed.
With chemical abortions, mifepristone (better known as RU-486) works by blocking the pregnancy hormone, progesterone, which is required for the unborn child to survive.
APR consists of administering progesterone to counteract the abortion pill and is ideally given within 24 hours of having received the first abortion pill.
According to a Catholic News Agency (CNA) article quoting a CNN report, “Tennessee’s law required the physician to offer notification of the possibility of reversal at least 48 hours before the abortion, again in writing after the first pill of the regimen has been administered, and written on ‘conspicuously’ displayed signs in private offices, ambulatory surgical treatment centers, facilities, and clinics that have provided more than 50 abortions in the previous calendar year.”
CNA also cited a 2018 study authored by Dr. Mary Davenport and Dr. George Delgado, who have been studying APR since 2009, the article stating, “The case study also showed that the progesterone treatments caused no increased risk of birth defects or preterm births due.”
APR has helped more than 1,000 women to save their babies and Heartbeat International’s Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) offers the life-saving information to give women one last chance to choose life.
Sue Turner, director of Physicians for Life is quoted in the Christian Post saying that, “Natural progesterone has been used for decades to stop miscarriages. The doctors will give the mother natural progesterone to stop her from having contractions and help hold the baby in place until she gets closer to her due date. That was why they used it in the first place.”
So, with a long track record of being safely used, where is the downside of offering APR information to women?
Especially in light of the fact the abortionists performing chemical abortions are already exposing women to side effects associated with the abortion pill, which include heavy bleeding, abdominal pain, or severe infections, and can require treatment at emergency rooms.
Also in the category of not protecting women - these ER trips are not reported to the FDA, so where is the accountability for the use of chemical abortions?
Melissa Ohden, a survivor of saline abortion, is known as, “The little girl who was supposed to die in an abortion grows up to be a woman that brings life and restoration to others.”
She and other saline abortion survivors were thought of as the “unwanted potential side effects” of that abortion technique. So, abortionists began to steer away from that practice.
As Ohden notes, “But behind the unplanned lies great opportunity for unexpected joys and blessings. Yes, great challenges, also, but even greater potential for growth.”
Life has brought her full circle to where, “The very hospital where her life was supposed to end in the abortion, a place that signified death and suffering to her, is transformed thirty years later into a place that holds the most beautiful memories of her life, when she gives birth to her first daughter there, herself.”
It is such a joy to write about Abortion Pill Rescue® success stories. The more we (PHN) tell APR stories, the greater the opportunity to display why unplanned is not the same as unwanted.
The common experience of those whose APR efforts result in a healthy delivery is the surprise blessing a new life brings.
As I interview these women, I never tire of hearing their joyful expressions of what a gift their child’s life has been to them. They also are stunned by how uninformed (deceived) they were before their initial decision.
Often, they are embarrassed by considering their own selfishness, where their minds were overwhelmed by lies. Having been pulled back from the edge of destroying their child, they share a deep gratitude for their second chance.
I would submit that money and power are not the sole motivators behind Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry’s efforts to suppress information and expand abortions. These are strong motivators, but the real motivation is only understood in the spiritual realm.
Evil itself masks truth and reason. We cannot reason with the promoters of abortion as long as evil holds them. So, we must be prayerful and continue to reach out with compassion and understanding of their oppression.
Abby Johnson was once held by this evil. Now her ministry is dedicated to reaching those within the abortion industry.
Let us join with her and others in a great effort to bring about America’s prayerful reconciliation.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and Pregnancy Help News.
