What Is the Truth About Abortions and Abortion Pills?

Families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when they know the true dangers of abortion and abortion pills. According to Elizabeth (Troutman) Mitchell, an example of how misinformation (lies) can be harmful is found in an article published Wednesday in a ProPublica article. The article was written to condemn state abortion laws, but it also shows that abortion pills are dangerous. 

A ProPublica article published Wednesday claims a Georgia woman died after taking an abortion pill because the state abortion ban prevented her from getting necessary treatment. But a pro-life OB-GYN says 41-year-old Candi Miller’s story says more about the danger of abortion pills than about the abortion law.

“This story illustrates very clearly the horrendous experience that women go through when they take these abortion drugs. But [also], the real dangers there re when women take them, especially when they take them without medical supervision,” Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB-GYN, told The Daily Signal. “And this completely contradicts the abortion industry’s narrative that, one, that these drugs are as safe as Tylenol; and two, that self-managed abortions are perfectly safe.” …

Abortion in Georgia is banned after around six weeks of pregnancy with an exception if the life of the mother is at risk. Every state abortion ban in the United States includes a life-of-the-mother exception. [Emphasis added.]

Miller had lupus, diabetes, and hypertension, so doctors said another baby could kill her. After accidentally getting pregnant at age 41, she ordered abortion pills online, but they failed to expel all of the unborn baby’s tissue, leading to an infection that ultimately killed her, ProPublica reported.

Miller’s family said she didn’t go to the doctor “due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions.” But according to Francis, who serves as CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Georgia law would not have prevented Miller from getting the necessary dilation and curettage, or D&C, procedure to remove the tissue.

If Miller had a severe form of any of those conditions, then she still would have qualified legally under Georgia’s law for ending her pregnancy under the state’s medical exception, Francis said.

“It sounds like she just did not receive good counsel, and somebody just told her automatically that she wouldn’t qualify – which, again, is not the case,” Francis said. [Emphasis added.]

By spreading misinformation about abortion laws, ProPublica endangers women, Francis said. A woman in Georgia hemorrhaging from a spontaneous miscarriage could read Surana’s article and unnecessarily drive hours to another state out of fear she couldn’t get the necessary care in her state.

Surana’s article is a real world example of how lies about abortion bans can hurt women, according to Francis.

Even though ProPublica stands by its reporting, it also brought attention to the deaths of two women – Amber Thurman and Candi Miller – and how they could have been prevented. ProPublica’s article published on Tuesday discussed the death of Thurman, “who died after a Georgia hospital failed to treat an infection caused by an abortion pill complication in time to save her life.” According to Francis, “Thurman’s death is an obvious case of medical malpractice that has nothing to do with the state’s abortion ban.”

The OB-GYN said women and physicians both need accurate information about abortion.

“Women deserve to have accurate information to know there is not a single state law in this country that will prosecute a woman if she has gone for an abortion,” Francis said, “and there’s not a single state law in the country that would prevent a physician from intervening immediately if a woman is facing a potentially life-threatening complication of her pregnancy.”

“The laws do not require that the woman be critically ill or actively dying before a physician can intervene,” the OB-GYN said.

I do not condone abortion on demand, but I do recognize that abortion may be necessary to save a woman’s life or in cases of rape or incest. Nevertheless, truth sets people free. I know that truth about abortions and abortion pills can bring freedom to women and possibly save their lives. I know that families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when pregnant women are supported in the ways that they need.