Two botched abortions following misuse of the chemical abortion pill went all but overlooked in Indiana in 2022, months before the state made the procedure illegal. Indiana is rated the sixth most pro-life state in the United States.
The first instance occurred nearly a year ago in March 2022 when a 23-year-old woman was given the abortion pill at 20 weeks gestation.
The pill is only deemed “safe” to use in the U.S. up until the 10th week of pregnancy.
The infant was born alive and later died. This was reported by Indiana Department of Health porting system known as Terminated Pregnancy Reports (TPR).
Another woman, age 27-years-old, was 20 weeks pregnant in July 2022 when she too was given the abortion pill. The male infant was also born alive and later died.
In both instances the babies were alive for two to three hours at the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis, with no apparent efforts made to save their lives.
A bill was passed in the Indiana Senate two weeks before the first infant was born alive at Indianapolis Hospital requiring facilities to report botched abortions.
Medication abortions in Indiana were only legal up until 10 weeks at the time of these abortions. Both of these scenarios are more than twice the legal gestation limit.
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The FDA states the abortion pill is only to be used at 10 weeks.
Indiana changed its abortion law in September 2022. All abortions are illegal in Indiana after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Exceptions include fetal anomalies, rape or incest up to 10 weeks gestation and if the life of the mother is at serious risk.
At least one of the cases is linked to Dr. Amy Caldwell who is thought to have performed abortions in which two mothers have died. Caldwell is suing the state of Indiana for its new abortion law.
Representatives from the world's largest network of pregnancy help denounced this gross misuse of chemical abortion drugs and callous disregard for the lives of the two infants.
Christa Brown is a registered nurse and Senior Director of Medical Impact for Heartbeat International.
“What happened here in Indiana is horrendous and is going to happen more often throughout the U.S. as many providers have chosen to ignore laws and FDA recommendations for the prescribing of these dangerous drugs,” Brown said. “With the drastic increase in telehealth abortion and websites offering pill by mail, estimates are 65-80 percent of abortions will be chemical in the U.S. in 2023.”
Despite previous and current Indiana laws on abortion, Brown said, providers will continue to do as they please.
Currently there are abortion centers operating in the Indiana communities of Merrillville, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Indianapolis, and Bloomington, she said. Freestanding abortion businesses may only do abortions legally in the first trimester.
“In Indiana late-term abortions must be done in hospitals and a physician must be standing by to provide care to the baby in the event the baby is born alive,” said Brown. “However, no care to extend their lives was documented.”
Tweet This: Two babies were born alive after botched chemical abortions in Indiana, the abortions performed well after the legal limit
Women and their infants are the victims of this scenario, said Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International.
“Promoting abortion pills without context for women to get help is unconscionable,” Godsey said.
“Big Abortion continues to be focused on maximizing profit and cementing their ideology,” said Godsey. “This will certainly result in women being sold something they don't really want and harmed in the process.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
