| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 20, 2019 |
CONTACT: Mallory Quigley [email protected] | 202-223-8073 |
Chemical Abortion Poses a Growing Threat to Women’s Health & Safety; Life Issues Institute Launches Education Campaign
Washington, D.C. – Today Life Issues Institute (LII) announced the online launch of A Closer Look at the Chemical Abortion Pill, a powerful new video featuring the personal accounts of two women who have experienced chemical abortion, as well as the perspective of a medical expert.
The half-hour-length special program, developed by the same Emmy® Award-winning production team of LII’s weekly television show Facing Life Head-On, was designed as an educational tool in response to the abortion industry’s push to expand the use of dangerous abortion drugs – now used in an estimated one-third to half of U.S. abortions. The industry is seeking to promote the drugs outside brick-and-mortar abortion facilities and in settings like college campuses and homes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly investigating online sellers of abortion pills that appear to be skirting federal regulations.
Tammi Morris was told at the abortion facility that chemical abortion would be simple, mostly painless and natural. Instead she was left to face what she calls a “horrific” ordeal alone and afraid. “They didn’t prepare me for this,” she says.
Elizabeth Gillette says Planned Parenthood staff provided no counseling or information on her options and told her simply, “You’ll experience some light cramping.” Elizabeth says, “I had no idea what was coming. No idea.”
Both women have words of caution and support for women contemplating abortion in the hope of sparing them the intense physical and emotional pain they experienced.
Dr. Donna Harrison, executive director of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians & Gynecologists (AAPLOG) and an associate scholar with Charlotte Lozier Institute, points to research that shows women who opt for chemical abortion are four times more likely to suffer a serious complication compared to surgical abortion. “It’s almost patient abandonment,” says Harrison, adding that abortion advocates who support the practice are “pushing a chemical coat hanger on women.”
“Abortion extremists are promoting dangerous and illegal ‘do-it-yourself’ abortion, using unsafe pills ordered from foreign countries. When you add their goal of over-the-counter sales of chemical abortion in American pharmacies, there will likely be devastating results for women,” said LII President Brad Mattes. “A Closer Look at the Chemical Abortion Pill is a new and effective tool to warn women about the chilling dangers of chemical abortion.”
Life Issues Institute is the Pro-life Grassroots Partner of the Susan B. Anthony List Education Fund. The SBA List family of organizations includes Susan B. Anthony List, Charlotte Lozier Institute, Women Speak Out PAC, SBA List Candidate Fund, the National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus, and Life Issues Institute.
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