OPINION:
When the young woman’s car neared the abortion provider’s office, a woman on the sidewalk called out a greeting. The driver braked and responded. She was clearly upset. She told the other woman, “I just want an ultrasound.”
She went on to say that the day before, she had received a dose of mifepristone — the first drug administered in two-step chemical abortion — and almost immediately regretted it. She asked the staff if something could be done to halt the abortion, and they said no.
“You have to go through with it,” she was told. “Just take the second pill.”
Determined to do whatever she could to save the life of her child, the next day, she drove to another abortion provider’s office — to get an ultrasound and see whether her child was still alive. That was where she encountered the woman on the sidewalk.
“I can help,” the woman told her. She told her about abortion pill reversal, which entails a high dose of progesterone to counteract the mifepristone.
That was two weeks ago. Since taking the progesterone, the young woman has had three ultrasounds — all showing her unborn baby is alive and kicking (literally).
The woman she encountered on the sidewalk is a volunteer with Sidewalk Advocates for Life, the organization I founded in 2014 for exactly this type of outreach: a loving, peaceful presence on the sidewalk outside sites that perform abortions, providing women with the life-affirming resources that abortion providers will not — resources that help them understand that, whatever challenging circumstances they face, they can choose life for their babies.
It’s not complicated, and it works. Since 2014, our sidewalk advocates have served more than 21,000 women — and helped save more than 21,000 babies from abortion.
We help women see that they really do have a choice. They don’t have to get an abortion. There are financial, health, vocational, and other resources in their communities — the resources they need to improve their lives and to protect the lives of their babies.
And it’s exactly this kind of choice that a number of states are working to quash. California is the latest — and perhaps that was to be expected. The Golden State has pulled any number of stunts to promote access to abortion.
Remember the Reproductive FACT Act, which aimed to force pregnancy help organizations to advertise local abortion providers? (It was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.) Or when judges ruled against California officials attempting to force churches to provide health care coverage for abortion in defiance of the right to religious freedom?
So it was no surprise when, on Sept. 21, California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria of violating a state law against fraudulent business practices. What fraudulent business practices are these organizations accused of?
Sharing the good news about abortion pill reversal — the good news is that if a woman regrets taking the first of the two-pill chemical abortion regimen, there is a real possibility that appropriate treatment can save her unborn baby’s life.
Women attempting a chemical abortion first take mifepristone, blocking the hormone progesterone, which is vital for pregnancy. The second drug, misoprostol, is taken 24 to 48 hours later, causing the uterus to contract and expel the life within.
Some research suggests abortion pill reversal may be possible if, before taking that second pill, a woman receives a high dose of progesterone. It gives pregnant women choices: If they regret taking that first pill, they have an opportunity to act on their change of heart.
Earlier this year, Colorado banned abortion pill reversal. In Kansas, Planned Parenthood is challenging a law requiring health care providers to tell patients that chemical abortion can be reversed. Now California is alleging that Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria know there is no evidence showing abortion pill reversal works, is safe, or is effective, but they nevertheless continue promoting it.
The fact is, more than 4,000 babies have been born after their mothers’ abortion pill reversal. Some months from now, a baby will be born in California to the woman who, desperate for help, spoke with a sidewalk advocate who shared the good news of abortion pill reversal with her.
If abortion supporters are all about women’s choice, why do they want to remove this one? If it’s “her body, her choice,” why do states like Colorado and California want to prevent her from learning about all the options open to her?
Abortion isn’t the only option. Abortion pill reversal is safe and effective — and it works. To prevent a woman from hearing about it is to steer her in one direction only: the nearest abortion provider.
So much for pro-choice.
Update: This opinion piece has been updated to reflect an ongoing dispute over the science behind abortion pill reversal.
• Lauren Muzyka is the founder, president and CEO of Sidewalk Advocates for Life, the nation’s leading sidewalk advocacy organization. She is a licensed attorney with more than 20 years of experience in sidewalk outreach.
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