Ohio House lawmakers considered an informed consent bill that would require abortionists to tell women about the life-saving abortion pill reversal treatment during a committee hearing Tuesday.
The Abortion Pill Reversal Information Act (state House Bill 378) would require abortion facilities to inform women at least 24 hours before prescribing the abortion drug mifepristone about the possibility that the drug may be reversed to save her baby’s life.
The treatment is credited with saving more than 3,000 babies’ lives to-date, and many states are taking action to add information about the abortion pill reversal to their informed consent laws.
Mary Parker, director of legislative affairs at Ohio Right to Life, said the bill will help ensure that women make an informed decision about abortion and her unborn child’s life.
“Ohio Right to Life is proud to support the Abortion Pill Reversal Information Act,” Parker said. “No woman should be forced to complete an abortion that she regrets. We want her to know that there could be a second chance at life for her unborn child through the abortion pill reversal procedure.”
Sponsored by state Reps. Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield, and Sarah Fowler Arthur, R-Ashtabula, the bill would require the Ohio Department of Health to create a flyer with information about the abortion pill reversal treatment to provide to women at abortion facilities. The legislation also creates civil penalties for abortionists who fail to provide the information.
“The bill is structured in such a way that the Ohio Department of Health would be making sure that the flyer was available, with complete information for the woman so that she is more informed in making her decision,” Fowler Arthur told the committee Tuesday, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
However, Democrat lawmakers and news outlets criticized the bill, implying the abortion pill reversal treatment is harmful. The Capital Journal described the treatment as “medically unsupported,” pointing to the pro-abortion American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ strong opposition to it.
ACTION ALERT: To support this pro-life bill, please Contact Ohio House lawmakers.
“The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has specific advocacy related to the medication abortion ‘reversal,’ saying the practice ‘is not supported by science,’ and politicians ‘should never mandate treatments or require that physicians tell patients inaccurate information,’” the newspaper wrote.
State Rep. Mary Lightbody, D-Columbus, also opposed the bill during the hearing, according to the report.
“I’m far more interested in promoting information to women who are considering becoming pregnant or who are pregnant that will help them understand how to take care of themselves, but also to prevent pregnancies should they wish not to become pregnant,” Lightbody said.
Research indicates the abortion pill reversal treatment is safe and effective. One study found that nearly 70 percent of women who underwent the treatment were able to reverse the effects of the abortion drug and save their babies’ lives. The study did not find any increased risks of complications or birth defects.
According to the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs, the treatment works very similarly to a hormonal treatment that has been used for years to help prevent miscarriages.
The abortion pill reversal treatment works by counteracting the abortion drug mifepristone, the first of two drugs typically taken to abort and then expel the unborn baby. Mifepristone makes the uterus inhospitable to new life by blocking the hormone progesterone. The reversal procedure involves giving the mother doses of progesterone to counteract the abortion drug. The abortion pill reversal procedure does not work after the mother takes the second drug, misoprostol, one or two days later.
In January, Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, which runs the abortion pill reversal hotline, told the Catholic News Agency more than 3,000 babies have been saved through the treatment.
According to Ohio Right to Life, 32 physicians provide the abortion pill reversal procedure in the state.
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.
ACTION ALERT: To support this pro-life bill, please Contact Ohio House lawmakers.
