The Abortion Pill: The Future of the Battle for Life

THE ABORTION PILL

THE FUTURE OF THE BATTLE FOR LIFE

Seismic changes are coming to the fight over abortion! With the US Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade, each state will determine the legal status of abortion. And one of the toughest battles the states will fight is over chemical abortion.

There are currently two forms of chemical abortion. One is called the morning-after pill and the other is called the abortion pill (or RU486). For the morning-after pill to work, the woman has to take the drug within 72 hours after intercourse. The pill prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

The abortion pill, on the other hand, should really be known as the “70 mornings after pill.” A pregnant woman can take the abortion pill up to 70 days (yes, 10 weeks) after conception. If taken within this time period, the abortion pill will kill the baby in 98% of the cases.

The abortion pill causes the mother’s body to withhold the lifesustaining hormone progesterone from the baby. Without this hormone, a baby with a strong heartbeat will die quickly. Then, within 24 hours of taking the first drug, the mother must take a medication called Cytotec. This drug will induce strong contractions to expel the baby, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid. The use of the abortion pill can be a miserable experience for the

mother. The normal and expected side effects will be bleeding, cramping, and pain. Possible unexpected side effects include pelvic pain, nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, dizziness, tired feeling, weakness, back pain, and allergic reactions. These can include closing of the throat and swelling of the lips, tongue, or face.

Then there’s the possibility of severe side effects. These include failure to end the pregnancy, infection, blood clots in the uterus, undetected ectopic pregnancy, very heavy bleeding, severe hemorrhage, and even death. More than 1 in 100 require hospitalization.

Because RU486 carries life-threatening and healthendangering risks, the Food and Drug Administration has kept it in a drug safety program called Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS). This means the abortion pill is supposed to be taken under a doctor’s supervision. But that doesn’t always happen. In many states, a prescription for the pill is available via a telemedicine visit and then mail ordered to the home of the patient. And it is readily available at many colleges’ health centers where doctors are not usually present.

During Covid, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the FDA to demand a temporary suspension of the REMS. The stated goal was to keep women safe during the pandemic. But the abortion industry has made it clear that its long-term strategy is to remove REMS permanently and make abortions “self-managed” and unrestricted. In fact, chemical abortion is the primary means the abortion industry will use to undermine restrictive state laws.

It is also why we’ll continue to see a huge increase in the number of chemical abortions. Prior to the Covid outbreak, the number of abortions performed in the United States via the abortion pill was 39%.