A second Wisconsin abortion business has stopped selling the abortion drug RU 486, following a new law that prohibits selling the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug via webcam and without an in-person consultation with a physician.
Planned Parenthood made the decision last month to stop selling the drug and, now, Affiliated Medical Services, located in Milwaukee, has also suspended them.
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 but worried it’s short-term at best.
“At this time, RU 486 chemical abortions, which comprise 26% of all Wisconsin abortions, are not readily available in Wisconsin. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, which operates three abortion clinics in Wisconsin, suspended RU 486 abortions last month,” says Barb Lyons of Wisconsin Right to Life. “Will this moratorium last? Unfortunately it’s not likely. Abortion clinics valiantly try to make Governor Scott Walker and the legislature villains in the fictitious “war on women.” Watch for chemical abortions to resume sometime after the June 5 recall elections in which pro-life Gov. Walker and four pro-life state Senate seats are targets.”
Affiliated Medical Services says on its website, “Effective 5-11-12 Due to pending legislation in Wisconsin, we are no longer able to offer the Abortion Pill. We regret this inconvenience and encourage you to contact state legislators and the Governor to express your frustration!”
Lyons continued: “The new Wisconsin law enacted by the legislature requires that prior to prescription of an abortion-inducing drug, the prescriber must perform a physical exam on the woman and be physically present to give the drug. Abortion proponents wail that these provisions are, in the words of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, “vague, unnecessary and intrusive restrictions for abortion providers.” During debate on the new law, pro-abortion legislators insisted that telling women to return for follow-up at the clinic that administers the drug is detrimental as women should be able to go to a medical provider in their own community.”
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.
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.
