An Indiana state House committee approved a bill that will tell women how the abortion pill can be reversed in order to save their baby if they change their mind after taking it.
Very few states have considered this landmark legislation even though quite a number of babies have been saved from abortion after women have changed their mind following consumption of the mifepristone (RU 486) abortion drug.
Today, the Indiana House Public Policy Committee voted 7-6 to advance House Bill (HB) 1128 out of committee. Authored by Rep. Ron Bacon (IN-75), HB 1128 increases informed consent for women seeking a chemical abortion in Indiana by notifying them that this type of abortion procedure may be able to be reversed or stopped.
Public Policy Committee Chairman Ben Smaltz (IN-52) oversaw the amendment process, resulting in additional changes to HB 1128. Amendments adopted today make minor changes to the state’s termination of pregnancy report, strengthen health and safety standards at abortion facilities and work to help women being sexually trafficked.
“Pro-life advocates are pleased that the House Public Policy Committee voted to increase informed consent for Hoosier women,” said Indiana Right to Life’s Vice President of Public Affairs Sue Swayze-Liebel. “If women are to be truly informed, then if makes sense to notify them that chemical abortions may be able to be reversed if they change their mind shortly after taking the first abortion pill. We urge Hoosiers to contact their representative and urge passage in the full House of HB 1128 on chemical abortion reversal information.”
Last week, committee members heard testimony related to chemical abortion reversal from more than 10 individuals on both sides of the issue. Testifying to the medical science and the success of using an abortion pill reversal protocol where two Indiana doctors, Casey Reising, M.D. of Indianapolis and Christina Francis, M.D. of Fort Wayne. Both have helped women go on to deliver healthy babies after they regretted taking the first pill in the chemical abortion process. Committee members also heard from a woman who participated in the abortion pill reversal process after regretting her decision to abort. She now has a healthy son.
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Voting in favor of advancing HB 1128 on chemical abortion reversal information were Reps. Ben Smaltz, Timothy Wesco (IN-21), Todd Huston (IN-37), Chris Judy (IN-83), Matthew Lehman (IN-79), Jim Lucas (IN-69) and Peggy Mayfield (IN-60). Voting against the bill were Reps. Edward Clere (IN-72), Sean Eberhart (IN-57), Phil GiaQuinta (IN-80), Terri Jo Austin (IN-36), Charlie Brown (IN-3) and Vanessa Summers (IN-99).
In 2015, Arizona became the first state to require that women seeking abortions be told of the possibility that abortion drugs can be reversed, LifeNews reported. When a pregnant woman takes the dangerous RU 486 abortion pill, there is a chance that the abortion drug can be reversed if she changes her mind in time. Knowing that, legislators in Arizona put information in the bill that called for women to be informed that if they take the first drug of a two-step chemical abortion process, they may be able to stop the abortion process and deliver a healthy baby.
However, Planned Parenthood challenged the measure, calling it “junk science,” and got a court to block it before it went into effect.
As currently administered, a chemical abortion involves taking the drug mifepristone, which makes the uterus inhospitable to new life and starves the baby. One or two days later, a second drug is taken to induce contractions and expel her child. The reversal process, which is gaining in usage as it becomes more widely known, can reverse the impact of the first drug and allow the baby to continue normal development. Time is of the essence, though, in starting the reversal process.
Dr. Matthew Harrison performed the first-ever reversal in 2007. At a press conference in 2015 sponsored by Priests for Life and the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Dr. Harrison said the baby who was saved is now a healthy and happy 8-year-old girl.
In 2015, Harrison and the team of OB-GYNs who are pioneering the technology reported more than 213 babies have been saved so far.
Anyone who has taken the first abortion pill and wishes to stop the abortion is urged to immediately visit www.abortionpillreversal.com or call the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline at 877-558-0333.
