Ever since the Zika virus was linked to possible birth defects in newborns, abortion activists have been drumming up fears among pregnant women and encouraging them to abort their unborn babies.
The mosquito-borne virus, a major concern in South America, is believed to be linked to microcephaly, a neurological disorder where a baby’s head is significantly smaller and the brain is abnormally developed, according to the Mayo Clinic. The condition is not typically fatal, but it can cause health problems throughout the child’s life.
The relationship between virus and microcephaly has not been confirmed; however, several South American countries report that the number of babies born with the disorder has been increasing drastically with the spread of the virus.
Abortion is widely illegal in South America, but that has not stopped some abortion groups from offering them anyway. In February, the radical group Women on Web began advertising dangerous mail-order abortion drugs to women in South America who may be infected with the virus. To receive the abortion drug, women must fill out an online consultation form. The group then ships out the drugs in the mail.
However, the group told the Los Angeles Times this week that authorities in Brazil have confiscated many of their abortion packages:
Now, however, the group has temporarily suspended its operations in the country because Brazilian authorities have confiscated the drugs in the mail. Abortion is prohibited in most instances in Brazil, and the drugs are illegal.
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“It’s not fair to tell women they are going to get a package, and it will not arrive to them,” said Leticia Zenevich, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group, Women on Web. “It’s very tragic.”
Even in the face of the Zika virus, providing pregnancy-ending alternatives to women in a country where abortion is in most cases illegal is proving to be nearly impossible, Zenevich said.
Women on Web, a Canadian group that is based in the Netherlands and operates worldwide, said in February that it had sent “dozens of packages” to women in Brazil but only two packages had arrived. The rest were apparently seized. The packages provided by Women on Web contained misoprostol and mifepristone, which can end a pregnancy.
Authorities acknowledge that they are confiscating abortion drugs sent in the mail because the medicines are banned in Brazil.
The Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency said it was illegal for individuals to receive misoprostol — an abortive substance best known in Brazil by the brand name Cytotec — in the mail.
The pro-abortion group said 95 percent of the abortion drugs that they sent to Brazil have been seized by authorities.
The group did not say exactly how many mail-order abortion drugs it has sent in the past year, but it reported being contacted by tens of thousands of women in Central and South America, asking about abortions.
The abortion group’s actions are extremely troubling for multiple reasons. One of the problems with Zika is that it is difficult to diagnose. Health authorities say people who are infected do not necessarily show symptoms of the virus; and when they do, their symptoms can look like other illnesses. So pregnant women could take the abortion pills without knowing if they really have the virus.
Similarly, conditions like microcephaly often are not diagnosed until women are 20 weeks pregnant or later. In offering the mail-order abortion drugs, which are typically used up to nine weeks of pregnancy, the Women on Web group fails to mention that there is very little way of knowing at that point if the unborn baby has the disorder. Women could very likely be aborting healthy unborn babies.
In addition, the World Health Organization notes that the chemical abortion drugs require “close medical supervision” – something the Netherlands group does not provide. If women suffer complications, which are not uncommon with chemical abortions, the women are left all alone. In America, where emergency medical care often is readily available, the Food and Drug Administration documented at least 14 women’s deaths and 2,207 injuries from abortion drugs in the past 12 years, LifeNews previously reported.
The situation also is troubling because abortion activists believe people with disabilities like microcephaly should be aborted – an idea that concerns many disability rights advocates, even some who support legalized abortion. Families who have experiences with microcephaly also are speaking out against the abortion push, likening it to euthanasia.
This is not the first time Women on Web/Women on Waves has tried this type of stunt. In 2015, LifeNews reported the group was using drones to deliver abortion drugs to Ireland and Poland in violation of the countries’ pro-life laws protecting unborn babies from abortion.
Meanwhile, pro-abortion groups also are pressuring pro-life South American countries to allow women to abort their disabled babies because of the Zika virus. Earlier this month, the Chile House voted to allow abortions on disabled babies and babies who were conceived in rape, LifeNews reported. However, in February, Paraguay officials said their country will continue to support unborn babies’ right to life as they deal with the health crisis.
