Free Republic

By its very definition, medicine saves lives by treating or preventing diseases. But now, some in the media are distorting its meaning to include abortion – the ending of another’s life. On April 28, The New York Times published a piece examining, “Abortion by Telemedicine.” In the story, health and science writer Pam Belluck cited several women who obtained abortions through TelAbortion, a telemedicine program that provides video consultations with abortion providers so that pregnant women can take abortion pills on their own without having to visit an actual clinic. Both TelAbortion – and Belluck – recognized the pills that...

More women are turning to an experimental at-home abortion program to abort their unborn babies during the coronavirus crisis. The TelAbortion experiment, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), mails abortion drugs to women in 13 states. In some cases, the women may never see a doctor in person before aborting their unborn babies. As states restrict travel, health care, business and other things deemed “non-essential” due to the coronavirus, more women are contacting the experimental program. New York Daily News reports TelAbortion saw a 30% uptick in “virtual visits” between February and March. The pro-abortion has group mailed...

The abortion lobby is using the COVID-19 pandemic to quickly expand access to the abortion pill… and in the process, they are placing women at greater risk. In part one of this series on “no-test abortion,” Live Action News introduced the protocol, which enables abortion profiteers to dispense the abortion pill without conducting any ultrasounds (to rule out ectopic pregnancy and accurately date gestational age) or lab tests/blood work. While the details of this protocol came to light during a recent webinar sponsored by the Society of Family Planning (SFP) — which included Gynuity Health Projects and others with profit...

During March, the Abortion Pill Rescue Network saw a record number of calls for abortion pill reversals. Andrea Trudden, director of communications for Heartbeat International, which runs the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, told Live Action News that 105 mothers started the process of halting their chemical abortions after calling the hotline. Trudden said, “We are now seeing over 80% of our callers start the reversal process.” The abortion pill reversal method is available to mothers who begin the abortion pill regimen and regret their decision. Because chemical abortion is a two-step procedure, it may be possible to stop the death...

LUVERNE, Minnesota, April 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Planned Parenthood’s attempt to quietly establish a new location in a Minnesota town was quickly stymied by community pressure recently, according to local pro-life leaders. Planned Parenthood North Central States (PPNCS) had attempted to “sneak” a new Luverne location into a building shared by an American Family Insurance office and a nonprofit domestic violence group, Students for Life reported. The Rock County Star Herald added that the location was intended to dispense chemical abortions via telemedicine (or “webcam”) appointments, and that neither the AFI office nor the nonprofit, Southwest Crisis Center, knew of...

April 16, 2020 (LiveAction) – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a known financier of pro-abortion organizations, is also funding an international “family planning” organization that distributes the abortion pill worldwide. DKT International operates “offices in 24 countries” and boasts that it is “one of the world’s largest providers of family planning.” But while DKT portrays itself as “a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO)” that “operates like a social enterprise,” DKT International also openly sells the abortion pill (mifepristone) as well as manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) kits. In addition, DKT may also be the marketing company behind pills that are being...

Planned Parenthood is once again using the COVID-19 pandemic to expand abortion. This time, the largest abortion provider in the nation has announced its intention to expand telemedicine services nationwide, including abortion. Telemedicine generally allows physicians to communicate with patients remotely, which might work for some of Planned Parenthood’s shrinking health services. However, under a safety system put in place by the FDA called REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy), patients accessing telemedicine for abortion would still be required to come into the facility in order to obtain the abortion pill while the abortionist is remote. Under REMS, the abortion...

By Cheryl Sullenger The Associated Press published a crucially important story yesterday – but not for the reasons it may have intended. While the report focuses on the effects of COVID-19 on pregnant women, who are being frightened into abortions, and the abortion facilities that service them, it actually lays out a compelling case for reopening the economy as soon as possible. There are four important reasons why reopening the country would save lives by reducing abortions: * More women are likely to go through with their abortion decisions than before the pandemic. * Women who otherwise would not consider...

MINNEAPOLIS — When the Coronavirus pandemic asked a lot of us to change what we were doing, Sarah Stoesz, the CEO and president of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said her organization was up for the challenge. "We were born into controversy and crisis," Stoesz said. "Our organization has lived that way for over 100 years. Over 100 years, we have developed a lot of muscle that allows us to quickly adapt and to iterate." Stoesz doesn't deny that some of their services cannot be delivered virtually. "There will always be a need for clinicians to lay a hand on...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should immediately revisit restrictions on mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortion, so that patients do not need to travel during the coronavirus outbreak, three female Democratic senators said on Tuesday. Under current regulations, patients seeking medication abortion ― a protocol that involves taking two drugs ― must pick up the medicines in person at an abortion clinic, even though the pills may be swallowed at home. That’s because mifepristone, the first of the two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy, is subject to a special set of FDA restrictions called Risk Evaluation and...

(CNN)A federal appeals court late Monday night ruled in favor of supporters of abortion rights and allowed an abortion procedure called "medication abortion" to be used in Texas while an ongoing legal challenge continues. The order by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest development in a lawsuit that has been bouncing between federal courts in Texas, causing chaos on the ground for clinics and patients in the state. Monday's ruling is temporary, but it could stall or maybe even avert a potential Supreme Court showdown over the issue. The controversy began last month when Texas Gov....

hen an emergency responder in one of the New York counties hardest hit by COVID-19 recently found out she was pregnant, she decided that it wasn’t the right time to have a child. So between a busy schedule of helping patients, she made an appointment for Planned Parenthood’s new telehealth service, requested an abortion, and attended an initial counseling session—all while sitting in an ambulance. Once she completed her virtual visit through the organization’s app, the first responder’s ambulance swung by her local Planned Parenthood clinic so she could pick up the pills needed to end her pregnancy. “Sexual, reproductive...

BILLINGS — Planned Parenthood of Montana announced the launch of a new telehealth program in Montana, which allows patients to access health care services through a private and secure video conferencing platform that connects them with Planned Parenthood of Montana’s providers. “Planned Parenthood of Montana is here with you — wherever you are. We are proud to use technology and innovation to reach people with the health care and information they need, when they need it. In these uncertain times, we’re committed to connecting patients to care — no matter what,” said Martha Stahl, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is launching a new telehealth program in Missouri. The health care provider will begin phasing in services without requiring patients to visit a health center, beginning with patients seeking birth control or patients with urinary tract infections. The first remote services will be available using the mobile application PP Direct, and patients seeking access to birth control can schedule a phone appointment with one of Planned Parenthood’s providers. Patients accessing birth control can get it by scheduling a phone appointment with Planned Parenthood staff...

A chain of abortion facilities in Maine have taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to push a no-contact service for the abortion pill. Just six days after Maine reported its first case of the coronavirus, Maine Family Planning program director Leah Coplon had successfully implemented the program under the guise of social distancing and helping to reduce the spread of the virus. Maine Family Planning was already participating in a clinical trial attempting to prove the safety of TelAbortion with pills dispensed by mail. Currently, an FDA safety system called REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) dictates that abortion pills...

Pro-abortion attorneys general from 21 states sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration on Monday, requesting that important safety restrictions on the abortion pill be lifted. Mifepristone is the first drug of the two-dose abortion pill. It works to block progesterone, which is produced by the mother’s body to sustain the pregnancy. It cuts off blood and nourishment to the growing child. According to the Washington Free Beacon, in order to commit abortions through the abortion pill, mifepristone’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requires that abortionists be registered with...

Twenty-one Democratic attorneys general are asking government agencies to lift restrictions on an abortion-inducing drug because of the coronavirus pandemic. California attorney general Xavier Becerra sent a letter signed by 20 other Democratic attorneys general to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration on March 30. The letter requests the rescinding of a safety program required for medication that carries health risks and demands that the two departments allow easier access to abortion medication, facilitating abortions that could happen without the patient having to leave her home. The request for significantly loosened restrictions on...

President Donald Trump recently refused abortion activists’ pressure to expand access to abortion drugs during the coronavirus crisis. Many states are delaying non-essential medical care to devote resources to the virus outbreak, but abortion facilities have been continuing their business as usual. Abortion activists insist that abortion are essential medical care, even though they destroy unborn babies’ lives and put mothers at risk. Though many abortion facilities remain open, abortion activists are using the crisis to push for even more abortions through de-regulation. Recently, a number of abortion activists urged the Trump administration to allow mail-order and telemedicine abortions, according...

Abortion advocates expressed fear that access may be impacted by the coronavirus crisis, suggesting the Food and Drug Administration should remove protections on abortion drugs and increase access to abortion telemedicine. These advocates said access might be hindered as abortion doctors fall ill to coronavirus, leaving communities with few to no abortion doctors, and called for donations to support the organizations and providers still offering abortions. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) drew on the coronavirus pandemic and called for donations Wednesday. “We are working tirelessly to ensure that everyone gets the care they need, and to advocate for policies...

(MRC-TV) Amid mass panic over the seemingly inevitable coronavirus outbreak sweeping the country, some in the abortion industry are using the widespread alarm to tout the importance of…abortion. Why? Well, that’s unclear, given that abortion has nothing at all to do with the coronavirus. Even still, several abortionists and abortion advocates have taken to Twitter to stump for the public’s “right” to access abortion pills via telemedicine (i.e., an online consultation without having to physically see a doctor). Dr. Dustin Costescu, an OBGYN, associate professor and “sexual medicine specialist” at McMaster University, tweeted that “self-managed abortion is safe” and “avoids...