A new study reveals that the abortion pill is 22 times more dangerous than previously recognized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While heartbreaking, this information comes as no surprise to pro-lifers who have been shouting the dangers of the abortion pill from the rooftops for years. The Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) found that one in ten women will experience a serious adverse event such as sepsis, hemorrhaging, infection, or another serious or life-threatening complication within 45 days after taking the abortion drug mifepristone. The FDA has labelled mifepristone on the box as “less than .05%” of women will experience a serious medical event after taking the pill. The abortion pill currently accounts for about two-thirds of abortions taking place in the US.
Upon learning about this study, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced orders to the FDA for a top-down review of the abortion drug mifepristone. During a hearing, Secretary Kennedy stated that the research was “alarming…and clearly it indicates at the very least the [FDA] label should be changed.”
Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced legislation that will direct the FDA to restore safety measures on the mifepristone-misoprostol drug cocktail. The Restoring Safeguards for Dangerous Abortion Drugs Act would direct the FDA to restore safeguards for mifepristone that the Obama and Biden administrations removed, allow women to sue tele-health providers and others who illegally mail the abortion pill, and ban foreign companies from mailing mifepristone into the United States.
There is now concrete data to show that the dangers of the abortion pill are far more numerous. Around the same time, Planned Parenthood released its annual 2023-2024 report. Despite the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, returning abortion regulation to the states, abortions being performed by Planned Parenthood have risen. Twenty states have restricted or mostly banned abortion.
The report, titled “A Force for Hope,” opens, “Every time a patient walks through the doors of a Planned Parenthood health center, it is an act of hope…”
402,200 little lives were ended at the hands of the abortion giant, and taxpayers supplied 39% of their over $2 billion budget - a 13% increase from the previous year. It’s difficult to comprehend the taking of 402,200 preborn lives, which equates to over 1,100 every day.
It doesn’t seem that 402,200 women undergoing abortion is an act of hope. The Charlotte Lozier Institute reports that close to 70% of post-abortive women surveyed described their abortion decision as pressured, coerced, or inconsistent with their values and preferences.
Despite ongoing claims that Planned Parenthood holistically serves women, the numbers tell a different story. Only 7,008 out of 2 million patients received prenatal care, and 2,148 patients were referred for adoption services. This means that 97% of pregnant women who sought help at Planned Parenthood were sold an abortion.
Michael New, a social scientist and professor at The Catholic University of America, reports a 13.7% decrease in primary care visits, a 45% decrease in UTI treatments, and a 12.3% decrease in pap tests being performed. The numbers are clear- it’s never been about women’s health.
Planned Parenthood boasted that 42 states and the District of Columbia are set up for telehealth appointments. In abortion-legal states, patients can set up a telehealth appointment, and without any testing to confirm pregnancy or being seen in person by a medical provider, can receive the abortion pill by mail. In light of the EPPC’s findings that one in ten of these women will experience a serious adverse medical event, this is gravely concerning.
While taxpayer dollars cannot legally be used to fund abortions directly, whistleblowers such as Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director, reveal the organization circumvents this by billing Medicaid and Medicare for other services, such as pregnancy testing or ultrasounds. However, these funds go into a general pool, effectively supporting abortion services.
A potentially pivotal Supreme Court case was heard in April, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Pacific. This could have major implications for the country as to whether states can direct the use of Medicaid funding away from Planned Parenthood, since any funding that goes to them indirectly funds abortions.
Another avenue towards defunding Planned Parenthood is currently in the works. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has proposed a historic budget bill that would include defunding Planned Parenthood and all abortion vendors for the next ten years. The bill has passed the House, and the US Senate is the next stop, where, if the language holds and President Trump signs off, Planned Parenthood would be stripped of its taxpayer funding, losing 39% of its annual budget- a devastating financial hit to the nation’s largest abortion provider.
As new data exposes the severe risks posed by chemical abortions, and Planned Parenthood’s own report shows a growing reliance on abortions, it becomes clear that the narrative of “hope” and “health care” is nothing more than a facade. Women deserve better than dangerous pills mailed without medical oversight, and better than the lie that abortion is their only answer. Women facing unplanned pregnancies deserve real choices, real support, real healthcare, and the truth that their pregnancy was planned by the Author of Life.
With major court cases and federal legislation on the table, Right to Life of Northeast Indiana thanks Secretary Kennedy for his investigation into the safety of the abortion pill, and urges the House, Senate, and President Trump to defund Planned Parenthood and the industry that is responsible for hundreds of thousands of innocent deaths every year.
