Planned Parenthood plans to challenge the latest abortion pill reversal informed consent law in court.
The abortion giant's political action fund and its Indiana advocacy group confirmed its intent to challenge HB 1577 in a statement criticizing Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) for signing the law.
Holcomb signed the law Apr. 29, the Times of Northwest Indiana reports, after it was approved on a nearly party-line vote by the Republican-controlled General Assembly. It requires that women seeking chemical abortion be informed about abortion pill reversal, should they change their minds once the chemical abortion is in progress.
"Gov. Holcomb showed his cowardice by failing to veto an ideologically driven bill that peddles junk science and harms the people of Indiana," said LaKimba DeSadier, Indiana state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. "It is unconstitutional, and the people of Indiana won’t forget, which is why we intend to take legal action."
Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said the Indiana law, which goes effect July 1, "is meant to shame patients seeking access to a safe, legal medical procedure, and puts their health in jeopardy."
McGill Johnson further claimed that, “Politicians like Gov. Holcomb are peddling dangerous medical misinformation in their ongoing quest to ban abortion.”
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Abortion pill reversal (APR) is an updated application of a treatment that has been used for decades to prevent miscarriage. It counters the first drug of the two-drug chemical abortion process, mifepristone, which acts to destabilize a pregnancy, with progesterone – the natural hormone present in a pregnant mother’s system that sustains her pregnancy.
If a woman takes the first abortion drug and experiences regret, and she acts quickly enough it may be possible to save her unborn child.
The Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN), consisting of roughly 1,000 rescue providers and pregnancy help centers who offer APR. Statistics show that to date, more than 2,000 lives have been saved thanks to the APRN, and that number continues to grow.
The protocol is regularly attacked by abortion supporters and promoters, along with a complementary abortion-supportive media.
Christa Brown, director of Medical Impact for Heartbeat International, which manages the APRN, said the network regularly connects with women who are experiencing regret after taking the abortion pill.
“We hear from women every single day who regret taking mifepristone to end a pregnancy and desire a way to continue their pregnancies and rescue their babies,” Brown said. “The Abortion Pill Rescue Network listens to their requests and offers women real choices even after starting a chemical abortion.”
Brown said there are those who would like to promote the lie that women who choose abortion no longer have choices, but this simply is not true.
“A well-established, evidence-based treatment exists to reverse mifepristone abortion and this is not new,” she said. “This treatment has been used by physicians throughout the world since the 1950s to safely sustain pregnancies and treat pregnancy complications.”
“Reversal is based on well-established medical science that is safe for women and safe for babies,” said Brown.
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In addition to informed consent about APR, Indiana’s HB 1577 requires that women be given a photo of their baby’s ultrasound and a record of the ultrasound be included in her patient file, requires that parental signatures for a minor’s abortion be notarized as an added step to help prevent falsifying of parental signatures and prohibits telemed appointments for getting the abortion pill.
The law also ties an abortion facility’s health and safety reporting to the state’s licensing process, to prevent facilities with open inspection violations from receiving routine approval of their licensing renewal.
Additionally, it affords conscience protections for mental health workers to protect them from being forced to facilitate or counsel for abortions, should they object on ethical, moral, or religious grounds.
Currently, 13 states have enacted informed consent laws related to APR, according to National Right to Life Committee.
Laws in Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah are in effect.
West Virginia Gov. Governor Jim Justice signed the state’s Second Chance at Life Act Apr. 28. That law goes into effect July 9. Along with Indiana and West Virginia, Montana’s law goes into effect later this year, on Oct. 1.
Laws in North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee are held up on court.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and Pregnancy Help News.
