Nebraska Right to Life is concerned that the Planned Parenthood abortion business will expand its webcam abortion process into Nebraska, potentially putting women’s health at greater risk.
The webcam, or telemed abortion, process has women going to Planned Parenthood for an RU 486 drug-induced abortion getting the drug from a nurse or other employee. The patient is denied an in-person consultation with a licensed physician the FDA suggests and she instead visits with the abortion practitioner via a webcam hookup.
The Planned Parenthood abortion business is beginning to use this process in Iowa and is thought to be considering expanding it to more rural and remote areas because of the expense and difficulty in recruiting abortion practitioners and getting them to all of the Planned Parenthood centers in a certain state.
Last week’s announcement by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland that they intend to open new sites in six outstate Nebraska cities has made the passage of LB 521 all that more urgent, Nebraska Right to Life officials tell LifeNews.com.
“Planned Parenthood intends to set up shop in Fremont, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, Norfolk and North Platte,” said Julie Schmit-Albin, Executive Director of Nebraska Right to Life. “We don’t doubt for a moment that they will try to incorporate their Web Cam chemical abortions into the new facilities. They have done over 2,000 chemical abortions in Iowa by Web Cam since 2008. The chemical abortion done via computer set-up is part of Planned Parenthood’s new business model. They cannot fail because it takes care of their two biggest obstacles, lack of access to rural counties and lack of abortionists who can do surgical abortions.”
“LB 521, the Stop Web Cam Abortions bill, directly addresses Planned Parenthood’s plans to expand across Nebraska to six of our mid-sized college towns.” said Schmit-Albin. “The Legislature must act this year to prohibit abortionists from doing chemical abortions via computer, before Planned Parenthood has a chance to start these in rural Nebraska.”
LB 521, introduced by Senator Tony Fulton and prioritized by Senator Dave Bloomfield, is still in Judiciary Committee.
The Nebraska pro-life leader concluded: “LB 521 had a hearing in Judiciary Committee on March 9th. Despite being a senator’s personal priority bill, the Judiciary Committee has never taken up LB 521 for a vote and the legislative session is quickly dwindling away. We call upon Committee Chairman Brad Ashford to schedule LB 521 for an Executive Session and vote. We will ensure that pro-life Nebraskans know what is at stake if LB 521 continues to languish in committee and or doesn’t make it to the floor on a committee vote. This is the bill that will have the most impact on the landscape of abortion in Nebraska and the Legislature needs to act this year.”
The legislative proposal would prohibit Nebraska physicians from prescribing and dispensing the abortion drug via the Internet, which Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has done in Iowa in more than 2,000 cases since mid-2008.
Schmit-Albin says women who get the abortion drug without an in-person exam and visit with a physician are left to deal with any consequences alone and she pointed to stories of “young girls being sent home to hemorrhage and deliver their babies at home not knowing what to expect.”
“This isn’t about women’s access to “healthcare” but more about Planned Parenthood reaching its tentacles across the vast expanse of our state into rural areas where they have not been and inflicting a dangerous drug cocktail on women and young girls who might end up in their local emergency rooms hours away from the abortionist who started the abortion,” she said.
She said women visiting Planned Parenthood for the telemed abortions “are told by Planned Parenthood to act like they are having a miscarriage if they go into an ER after having problems at home. So the local ER doctor doesn’t even know that her problem is due to a chemical abortion.”
“How is this about improving women’s health?” Schmit-Albin asked. “It’s all about the bottom line for Planned Parenthood: money.”
