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Abortion Pill Triggers 'Dramatic Increase' in Serious Complications

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The state of Ohio has seen a nearly 80 percent increase in serious complications from abortions from the RU486 drug, pro-life group Operation Rescue reported Friday.

“A new round (of) reporting forms for 2017 and part of 2018 obtained by Operation Rescue show that complications in Ohio to medication abortions done using the drug RU486, also known as mifepristone or Mifeprex, have skyrocketed over the past two years,” the group’s website reads.

“The rise in complications is tied to a dramatic increase in the use of medication abortions in that state. While overall abortions have steadily decreased since 1997, the use of mifepristone in conjunction with misoprostol to cause abortions has slowly increased until 2016 — the most recent year for which there are statistics — when medication abortion numbers jumped.

“Ohio law requires each abortionist to report information on every mifepristone abortion that results in complications. They must include the name and address of the abortion facility, relevant dates, and type of complication. The name and signature of the abortionist responsible must also be included on the form,” the release continues.

“Most of the forms also note the kind of treatment patients received in order to resolve the complications, although about a quarter of the forms for 2017 omitted that information.

“Seven abortion facilities recorded a total of 106 complications to medication abortion in 2017 — a 44% increase over 2016 and a whopping 87% increase over complications reported in 2014.”

The most common side effect was “incomplete abortions,” (those can happen in surgical abortions, too) although “severe bleeding, failed abortions, and infection” were also common.

A number of women in the study suffered more than one complication from medically induced abortions.

RU486 was initially introduced in the 1980s and, after years of controversy, became available in the United States in 2000, according to the FDA. The drug is not without its complications, as a woman who testified before an Indiana Senate Health and Services Provider hearing in 2013 demonstrated.

Do you think these numbers need to be reported more widely?

“It was the second day that I experienced the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. The experience wasn’t just a heavy period,” the woman said, according to Indiana Right to Life. “I was bleeding like I never knew possible. And the cramps were not just severe. I thought I was dying because they were so intense.

“I was crying hysterically and begging to die because the pain was more than I could handle. I was sweating like crazy and on the toilet while throwing up too. I was in my bed for a day straight and told my family members that I was extremely sick feeling too ashamed to tell what really was happening. My younger siblings were scared and stayed away from me because of how I was acting. I was alone, and afraid, yet too ashamed to share.

“It was the third day when I finally had enough energy to shower,” she continued. “I felt so dirty and shameful that I couldn’t wait to clean myself. It was the first time I had stood for more than a minute and I was starting to feel a little bit better by then. I got about halfway through my shower when I started to bleed again.

“I bled so much that it clogged the drain. It was in that moment, me trying to cleanse myself from my sin of the abortion that the truth was exposed. It was the ‘blood clot’ or the ‘blob of tissue’ that the clinic talked about. It was my baby that was clogging the drain of the shower.

“I had to turn off the water, get out and clean it up myself and then I flushed it down the toilet. It was even more horrifying than it sounds. This was all done in my own home, in the family bathroom, the family shower, the home where I had to live after this experience.”

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“RU486 is not a simple solution to a problem,” the young woman noted. “It is a horrible drug and if it is made more readily available to young girls especially they will have similar stories as mine.”

That’s the truth behind these “numbers.” These are people whose experiences are the same — if not worse — than this young woman experienced.

Is this was “safe, legal and rare” really means to pro-abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood? Because this certainly doesn’t sound like it.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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