The reality of abortion is vastly different than what is portrayed in the media or abortion-related advertisements, and since the June 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade abortion proponents have worked even harder to push abortion, quite often illicitly and at the expense of women’s safety.
The abortion lobby has exchanged surgical abortions of the past for chemical abortion drugs, with many worldwide working to design ways to get the drugs into the hands of women – whether or not the women have advanced gestations – quickly and without medical oversight.
The abortion industry was preparing prior to Dobbs for a time with fewer abortion providers and brick-and-mortar abortion facilities, more healthcare regulation, and state restrictions on abortion. With the arrival of such a time, a new report sounds the alarm on the heightened risks for women with abortion today.
The Changing Face of Abortion Today - Abortion trends following the overturn of Roe [White paper] was authored by the Medical Impact Team at Heartbeat International and released this week.
The document looks at changes related to abortion before and since Dobbs, including the abundant availability and access to chemical abortion; the rise in coercion, violence, and the poisoning of women related to the drugs; the reduction in medical assessment and oversight surrounding chemical abortion; and the increased mental and physical risks for women who undergo abortion in the current climate.
The report comes as the Supreme Court is set to take up the question of the FDA’s removal of longstanding safety standards for chemical abortion drugs, and abortion proponents flout existing laws and regulations of the drugs.
“Abortion is now readily available to any woman no matter where she resides in the world or what her local law dictates,” the Changing Face of Abortion Today report states. “With this new reality of abortion, we see decreased medical care and increased risks for women as well as human lives destroyed by the masses worldwide.”
The key findings of the document include:
• Chemical abortion is readily available, delivered to doorsteps across America and the world.
• Most medical pre-assessment prior to taking abortion drugs, has evaluation for psychological coercion has been eliminated from the abortion process.
• Chemical abortion accounts for more than 80% of all abortions in the U.S. and is even higher in other nations.
• 70% of women experiencing abortion state the abortion decision was inconsistent with their own values and preferences, and shockingly one in four abortions is unwanted or coerced. Chemical abortion empowers abusers rather than women.
• Abortion with chemicals is now provided to women worldwide far beyond the ten-week FDA approval which greatly increases the dangers of these drugs.
• There has been a reduction in pre-abortion exams or ultrasounds before the start of abortions increasing risks to women even further.
• At least one million lives will be lost this year to abortion in America and more than 73 million will be lost worldwide.
Heartbeat is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally. Its work includes the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN), which includes a 24/7 nursing team, a system of more than 1,400 healthcare professionals, clinics and hospitals. Approximately 150 women start chemical abortion pill reversal through the APRN each month, entailing hundreds of conversations with women who have begun the chemical abortion process.
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The Changing Face of Abortion Today report draws from many sources, including medical journals and studies, government and media reports.
Data on the sharp increase in women accessing abortion drugs from the internet or other sources such as friends or family, the drastic rise in the number of women who are over 10 weeks gestation obtaining chemical abortions, and the reduction in pre-abortion exams or ultrasounds before the start of the abortions came directly from the APRN’s work with women.
"Our nurses who answer the APRN hotline around the clock are seeing the heartbreaking effects of the federal promotion of abortion even at the cost of women's health and safety,” said Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International.
“Sadly, abortion politics is actively making women less safe and increasingly subject to abuse and coercion,” Godsey said. “Backroom dealings and political power allow Big Abortion to flourish at the expense of the women they prey upon."
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Heartbeat International Senior Director of Medical Impact Christa Brown manages the day-to-day operations of the APRN and sees in real time the effects of chemical abortion on women.
“We know Big Abortion prepared for the overturn of Roe long before that day in June 2022,” she said. “Abortion is now readily available no matter where the woman is in the world without verification of pregnancy, informed consent, or medical oversight.”
“The Medical Impact team wrote this white paper to share what we've learned from thousands of women who have contacted the Abortion Pill Rescue Network from 86 countries and all 50 states in the U.S.” Brown said. “As these women and families contact the APR hotline and share their stories with our nursing team, we are hearing first-hand how quickly abortion and its access is changing.”
Brown explained that the prevalence of chemical abortion and lack of oversight with it today is a danger to women.
“We wanted to clarify that these drugs are not empowering women or enhancing healthcare in any way,” she said. “Instead, we know that women are actually being harmed every day by these dangerous drugs.”
“We wanted to dispel the myth that abortion providers follow the FDA guidelines for prescribing abortion drugs,” said Brown. “And we wanted to share the harsh reality of how these chemicals are limiting women's choices as those who abuse women gain unlimited access and more women are being coerced or forced into an abortion decision.”
Dr. Brent Boles is Medical Director for the APRN. Boles commented on safety risks with the FDA’s loosening of standards for the abortion pill.
“In relaxing the restrictions on the use of mifepristone, the Food and Drug Administration has chosen to ignore the clear and present danger that chemical abortion poses for women,” Boles said.
“They’ve done so for the sake of ideology and have no reliable objective data that proves safety,” said Boles. “They have ignored excellent data that shows that a woman undergoing a chemical abortion is four times more likely to need emergency care than a woman who has a surgical abortion. They have ignored the danger that an inaccurate estimate of gestational age or the failure to identify an ectopic pregnancy poses for women having a chemical abortion without an in-person evaluation.
“In doing this, the FDA has chosen not to advocate for women and protect their health and safety,” he added, “but instead has chosen in an ideological manner to be advocates for abortion first and foremost.”
Dr. George Delgado, a Medical Advisor on the APRN Team, spoke as well about the risks to women resulting with the decreased regulation of the abortion pill.
“Women in crisis pregnancies will fall prey to mail order and telemedicine providers of chemical abortions,” he said. “Besides less chance for thoughtful reflection, they will be at an increased risk of undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies and undetected Rh negative blood type.”
“Mail-order procurement of mifepristone and misoprostol will increasingly become a tool for rapists, child molesters, and sex traffickers,” Delgado said.
Dr. William Lile, also an APRN Advisory Team member, noted the importance of giving women who take the abortion and change their minds a second chance to save their pregnancy.
"Everyone of us has made a decision that we regret,” he said.
“When a patient makes a decision and overdoses on a narcotic, we have an obligation to reverse the harm that was caused by the narcotic by giving them the antidote, Narcan,” Lile said. “It is the right thing to do. When a patient regrets her decision of taking Mifepristone, we have a duty to meet her request by reversing the effect of the Mifepristone to the best of our ability. It is the right thing to do."
Brown pledged continued assistance and support for women facing unplanned pregnancy and for those experiencing regret having started a chemical abortion.
“As the face of abortion continues to change, those in pregnancy help organizations will continue to stand with those making pregnancy choices, empowering them every step of the way,” she said. “And for women who have started an abortion, the APR Network will continue to be available offering hope and help to continue their pregnancies.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News.
