Cecile Richards: Killing Babies in Abortions is “Safer Than Tylenol and Viagra”

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jun 13, 2018   |   11:16AM   |   Washington, DC

Former abortion business CEO Cecile Richards made a number of absurd claims about abortion Wednesday in a column at the Los Angeles Times.

Among the worst was that an abortion is “safer than Tylenol and Viagra.”

Richards, the former leader of Planned Parenthood, recycled tired old pro-abortion talking points about abortion being safe and “essential” for women. The only way abortion activists can get away with these claims is to completely ignore the life of an unborn baby — something that technology is making it increasingly difficult to do.

Her column centered around a recent U.S. Supreme Court victory for pro-life advocates in Arkansas. In May, the high court refused to hear an appeal by Planned Parenthood that challenges an Arkansas abortion facility law.

The law requires abortion facilities to follow Food and Drug Administration guidelines when administering abortion drugs. It also requires that abortion doctors who dispense the drugs maintain contact with another doctor who has hospital admitting privileges and can treat patients in emergency situations.

Richards blasted the decision, claiming:

“There is no medical or health reason for this ban on medication abortion. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000, non-invasive medication abortion is safe by all measures — safer than Tylenol and Viagra, even. That’s why many women chose it over surgical abortion, which is already one of the safest medical procedures.”

Her claim is deceptive for several reasons. First, an abortion never is safe for an unborn baby. Its very purpose is to kill a unique, living unborn baby’s life.

Second, there is strong evidence that abortion drugs also are not safe for mothers. Even a Planned Parenthood study found that at least one woman is seriously injured from the abortion drugs daily. According to the FDA, at least 14 women have died and 2,207 women have been injured by the drug in America.

According to the clinical trial submitted to the FDA for approval, the abortion drug RU-486 fails in 1 out of 12 women with pregnancies less than or equal to 49 days. Those failures, however, increase to 1 out of every 6 women with pregnancies just one week advanced (50-56 days), and further still to nearly 1 out of every 4 pregnancies at 57-63 days gestational age. When using RU-486, 1 out of 100 women with pregnancies less than or equal to 49 days will require emergency surgery, according to the trial; however, this number increases dramatically to 1 out of every 11 women with pregnancies of 57-63 days gestational age.

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But Richards, without citing specific facts or figures to back up her claims, asserted that protective measures are not necessary because abortions are so safe. Then, she ironically claimed it’s pro-life politicians who are making abortions unsafe by passing protective regulations.

She wrote:

“Arkansas is just the beginning. Conservative politicians, emboldened by the Trump administration, are attempting to roll back abortion rights in many states across the country.

“Politicians in Missouri and Louisiana are pushing medically unnecessary restrictions that would make abortion much more difficult in those states. Mississippi and Louisiana have both passed 15-week abortion bans, the fate of which will be decided by the courts. And Iowa has passed one of the country’s most restrictive abortion bills into law, banning abortions after six weeks. (A judge has placed a temporary injunction on Iowa’s so-called “heartbeat law.”)

“Before Roe vs. Wade, healthy women routinely died in emergency rooms across the country because of botched abortions. Limiting access to abortion does not eliminate the need for abortion; it only makes abortion illegal and unsafe.”

These claims about back alley abortions repeatedly have been debunked. Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a founder of the radical pro-abortion group NARAL and a former abortionist, admitted he had lied about the number of women who obtained dangerous “back alley” abortions prior to Roe.

Richards’ deceptions play to her base, but they do not fool most Americans. Polls indicate more Americans still believe abortions are morally wrong. They realize the truth that an abortion unjustly kills an innocent unborn baby’s life.