The Ohio state House has approved a new pro-life bill that will help save babies from abortions. The chamber has approved a pro-life bill to ban a dangerous form of abortions that kill unborn babies but also put women’s health at risk.
Senate Bill 260, the Telemedicine Abortion Ban, passed out of the Ohio House of Representatives by a vote of 54 to 30. This legislation, spearheaded by Ohio Right to Life and Senator Steve Huffman, a physician, would prohibit the use of telemedicine for the purpose of selling abortion-inducing drugs and ensure that these killer drugs could only be provided in-person by the prescribing physician.
“Ohio Right to Life is proud to see this vital piece of pro-life and pro-woman legislation pass out of the Ohio House,” says Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life.
He told LifeNews.com, “It is past time for the abortion industry to be held accountable for their blatant disregard for patient safety and human life. For years, Planned Parenthood and their abortion allies have pushed unsafe telemedicine abortions to pad their bottom line. They’ve done this at the expense of vulnerable women. Women who are left to deal with the serious and even fatal consequences of chemical abortion alone and in some cases hours away from the physician who provided the drugs. This prioritization of profits over patient safety is unacceptable.”
Historically, Mifeprex, which comprises the first pill in the abortion pill remigen, has been highly regulated by the FDA, to the extent that they have imposed special safety requirements called Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) on the drug to reduce patient risk. Between 2012 to 2018 alone, the FDA recorded 4,195 cases of women being injured by the abortion pill. Twenty-four women have died from Mifeprex since the abortion pill was first introduced in the U.S. in 2000.
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“Although every successful abortion is a tragedy which results in the ending of a human life,” says Senator Steve Huffman, “abortions committed through telemedicine have the potential to add one tragedy to another by subjecting women to dangerous abortions-inducing drugs without providing basic health and safety standards. Planned Parenthood may consider the financial boost of telemedicine abortion worth the very real risk to women’s lives, but as a physician, I certainly do not.”
Ohio Right to Life thanks bill sponsor Senator Steve Huffman, Chairman Scott Lipps and Speaker Bob Cupp for their pro-life leadership and looks forward seeing the Telemedicine Abortion Ban signed into law by Governor DeWine.
Non-surgical abortions continue to make up a greater proportion of abortions performed in Ohio each year. In 2018, the [two-drug] Mifeprex regimen was used to perform 6,103 abortions, or approximately 30% of all abortions that year, and is the most commonly reported method of abortion before 10 weeks gestation.
