Because of a new pro-life law in Wisconsin that prohibits selling the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug via webcam and without an in-person consultation with a physician, Planned Parenthood will stop selling mifepristone.
The new law, Act 217, the Coercive and Web Cam Abortion Prevention Act, requires the abortion practitioner to determine if a woman is being coerced into having an abortion and prohibits web cam RU 486 abortions. The purpose of the law is to ensure the health and safety of women in these situations.
Wisconsin Right to Life was the major organizational force behind the enactment of the law and its officials were delighted by the news. The organization believes Planned Parenthood’s decision has the potential to lower the number of abortions in Wisconsin.
“In a true victory for Wisconsin women, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that it is suspending dangerous RU 486 chemical abortions because of the new law, Act 217, which takes effect today,” Barbara Lyons, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life, told LifeNews. “The FDA reports that 14 American women have died during RU 486 abortions and there were over 2,200 adverse incidents for women through use of this drug.”
“People mistakenly believe that women who have chemical abortions pop a pill and, magically, they are no longer pregnant. Yet, FDA protocol for use of this two-drug regime is three to four visits to a doctor with close supervision,” continued Lyons. “With the advent of web cam abortions, now taking place at Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa and Minnesota, instead of this close supervision, women discuss their abortion over a web cam without a physical exam by a doctor.”
She told LifeNews, “Planned Parenthood envisions bringing web cam RU 486 abortions into local communities. But now, not in Wisconsin, thanks to Act 217. And, because chemical abortions comprise 26% of Wisconsin abortions, their suspension will result in another decline in Wisconsin abortions which is great news for mothers and babies.”
“Opponents of Act 217 complain that the requirement of a private discussion with the woman to learn if she is being coerced is somehow detrimental,” she said. “Yet, women who are coerced are many times accompanied to the abortion clinic by the person doing the coercing who want to make sure she has the abortion. This common sense law protects women at a time when it is most needed and provides help if she is a potential or real victim of domestic abuse.”
The pro-life group applauded Senator Mary Lazich, Rep. Michelle Litjens and the state legislature for passing this important bill and Governor Scott Walker for signing it into law.
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin opposed the bill and the abortion business got Democrats to object to the third and final reading of SB 306, after Republicans topped weakening amendments to the legislation.
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The webcam abortion practice started with the Planned Parenthood of the Heartland affiliate using it in Iowa, a rural state where the abortion business has a difficult time getting an abortion practitioner to each of its clinics. As a result, it set up a process by which the abortion practitioner only visits with the woman considering using the mifepristone abortion pill via a videoconference, as opposed to an in-person visit the FDA suggests.
With the drug having killed dozens of women worldwide and injured more than 2,200 alone in the United States, according to April 2011 FDA figures, pro-life groups have been concerned about Planned Parenthood putting women’s health at risk.
Last year, Wisconsin Right to Life informed LifeNews that Planned Parenthood has begun using the extremely dangerous RU 486 web-cam abortion technique in Minnesota. According to Planned Parenthood Minnesota spokesperson Connie Lewis, the organization began doing webcam abortions at their Rochester facility — making it the first time the abortion business has expanded doing abortions beyond the twin cities area.
RU 486 and its companion drug are administered between the fifth and ninth weeks of pregnancy, after pregnancy has been confirmed and the process typically involves three trips to a doctor. About half of the women abort while at the doctor’s office, with another 26 percent having an abortion within the next 20 hours at any location at home or in public. The remainder either have an abortion in the coming weeks or none at all if the drug fails to work — making it so a surgical abortion is required.
Through April, the FDA reports 2,207 adverse events related to the use of RU 486, including 14 deaths, 612 hospitalizations, 58 ectopic pregnancies, 339 blood transfusions, and 256 cases of infections in the United States alone. A European drug manufacturer has publicly stated that 28 women have died worldwide after using RU 486/mifepristone.
