Chemical abortion harms women. Supreme Court can't ignore them

More than half of over 900,000 abortions in the US are performed with dangerous drugs. Our case goes before the Supreme Court and they can't ignore the danger to women.

Given that ectopic rupture is a life-threatening emergency and something every well-trained OB physician knows how to recognize, it’s puzzling that Giselle’s abortionist didn’t do more to prevent this near-deadly complication. Unfortunately, outcomes like hers are foreseeable.  Dr. Christina Francis is CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

Giselle remained in agony for two weeks before her blood pressure dropped to dangerous levels, and she was rushed to the hospital. During her emergency abdominal surgery, my friend discovered the source of Giselle’s pain: a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. It had severely damaged her pelvis, which was filled with pus and scar tissue. She required two week-long hospitalizations and took much longer to recover emotionally.  Given that ectopic rupture is a life-threatening emergency and something every well-trained OB physician knows how to recognize, it’s puzzling that Giselle’s abortionist didn’t do more to prevent this near-deadly complication. Unfortunately, outcomes like hers are foreseeable.  Safeguards around chemical abortion drugs were minimal to begin with but are now nearly nonexistent. For example, the FDA has never required abortionists to perform an ultrasound before starting a patient’s chemical abortion. Today, it allows these drugs to be obtained online and delivered in the mail, without a woman even interacting in person with a medical professional.  Ultrasound is the only way to confirm gestational age and definitively rule out ectopic pregnancy, which occurs in one in 50 pregnancies and which abortion drugs cannot treat. A patient with an undiagnosed ectopic will believe that her symptoms are normal side effects of her chemical abortion and will be less likely to seek help promptly. That’s the scenario Giselle found herself in — one that has killed women before.