Ohio Bill Would Maintain Abortionists Accountable for Killing or Injuring Girls

On Wednesday the Ohio Senate Health Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 309, the Abortion Pill Provider Liability Education (APPLE) Act, the Ohio’s version of National Right to Life’s model law, the Abortion Pill Provider Liability and Education Act.

By focusing on informed consent, transparency, and accountability in the growing chemical abortion marketplace, ensure that women receive truthful information and clear notice of their legal rights before being prescribed abortion-inducing drugs.

I’ve posted the written testimony of Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., Director of Education & Research for the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund and Ingrid Duran, director of the Department of State Legislation for National Right to Life.

Today, I’m posting the oral testimony of Christa Brown BSN, RN, who currently oversees the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, a “network of 1,500 healthcare practitioners, clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies who assist women having immediate regret after consuming mifepristone.”

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She told the committee…..

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Both drugs in an abortion pill kit–mifepristone and misoprostol–are category X drugs, both with black box warnings.* This is the most serious warning issued by the FDA, indicating that the drug carries significant risks of severe side effects, hospitalization, or death. The REMS [Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies], which were implemented to protect Americans from the most dangerous prescribed drugs, were unraveled in the last several years, leaving women to administer these drugs with little physician oversight and a true lack of protection. The most common serious adverse events are retained products of conception, bleeding, and infection. Missed ectopic pregnancies have also been documented.

Abortions are now commonly performed by women alone in their bedrooms, bathrooms, or dorm rooms with no medical oversight. The woman not only starts her own abortion but also must assess her own symptoms, during and following her abortion. Of the 2,100 abortions reported in Ohio each month, the majority are chemical (non-surgical).

Serious concerns regarding women self-administering their abortions include:
• The at-home abortion experience is minimized in advertising and does not accurately predict the bleeding and pain she will usually experience.

• There is rarely legal recourse for the woman after experiencing lifethreatening complications of hemorrhage and sepsis.
  • When complications occur, she may be apprehensive to seek care in a state with limitations for abortion.
• Pre-existing mental and physical conditions are not assessed.
• Women must decide about the disposal of the remains of their own children.
• The feeling of loss can be immediate, especially if the baby was visualized during the abortion process. • Typically, women are alone and vulnerable when complications occur.
• Abortion occurs in a previously perceived safe place that can be a source of trauma after the abortion.

Safety risks for all who consume abortion pills include:

• Four times the risk of complications as compared with surgical abortion in studies.
• An estimated 5-8% of women need emergency room visits for complications. (The FDA’s label states ER visits are serious adverse reactions.)
• Thousands of adverse events have been caused by abortion pills, including 768 hospitalizations and 24 deaths since 2000, as reported by the FDA. • Severe side-effects, including heavy bleeding, intense pain, and death, as reported in a recent study .
• Nearly 11% of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days of taking the drug revealed in a recent report), which is significantly higher than the rate currently reported on the drug’s label.
• Failure rates increase with increasing gestational age, making it more dangerous: 8% in the first trimester, 38.5% in the second trimester.
• At least 32 women ** have died after taking the abortion pill, the FDA reports. With increased availability of these dangerous and life-threatening drugs – together with an underreporting of complications – women of Ohio are at increased risk when choosing chemical abortion.

It is vitally important that women have the right to convey to the health care provider treating complications that they have had a chemical abortion. They should not fear criminal or civil penalties, as this medical information may save their lives when complications occur. And for those who suffer adverse events following the consumption of abortion drugs, it is important they are able to hold the manufacturer, distributor, health care provider, and dispensing health care facility accountable.

*The FDA no longer uses the Category X designation for any drug, but the latest label still has a black box warning used for drugs with special risks and contains a special warning for pregnant women.

 ** The FDA’s most recent postmarketing report puts the number of deaths associated with mifepristone in the U.S. to be 36.