By M.H. Cavanaugh
Christian Action League
December 22, 2021
“Whoever thought that you would hear it said, ‘Your abortion pills are in the mail’?” asked Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League.
Creech was referencing a decision announced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last Thursday, which loosened restrictions on the mail delivery of drugs that induce an abortion. The FDA had previously waived mail delivery requirements as a temporary measure due to the COVID 19 pandemic when access to abortion clinics was limited. But now, the nation’s public health guardian is lifting that restriction permanently.
“Women can now ‘terminate a pregnancy without leaving the comforts of home. They can mail-order the pills just as they might a blood pressure or thyroid medication,'” says Liberty Counsel (LC), a pro-life organization that fights for the right to life at every stage.
“Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973,” said LC, “may be on its way out, depending on U.S. Supreme Court decisions to come, so the rush is on to retain ‘reproductive rights’ of ‘pregnant individuals.'”
More than a dozen states in the U.S. have limited access to abortion pills. North Carolina law requires an in-person prescription to get such medications. But as the North Carolina Family Policy Council (NCFPC) points out, “enforcement is likely to be difficult.”
In a recent alert to their supporters, The NCFPC explained:
“The FDA’s announcement last week clears the way for ‘certified healthcare providers’ to prescribe abortion pills online and send them via mail anywhere in the country. Some companies have said they will even disregard state-level laws and regulations and ship the medication wherever there are ‘women who need access to safe abortions.’
“While the FDA argues that ‘the benefits of the product outweigh the risks,’ this is far from true; the risks of chemical abortions to the baby and the mother cannot be overstated. The two-part abortion drug regimen – also referred to as RU-486 – consists of mifepristone, which is administered to starve the unborn baby of progesterone, and then misoprostol, which causes cramping and is intended to expel the dead baby from the womb. Common complications include severe cramping, bleeding, and even hemorrhaging. Furthermore, having these procedures performed at home drastically increases the risk for infection, as well as other physical and mental health issues.”
In 2019, Representative Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus) filed HB 22 – Woman’s Right to Know Addition/Ashley’s Law. Pittman’s legislation would have required women seeking an abortion in the Tar Heel state to be notified, as a part of its informed consent law, that the effects of a drug-induced abortion may be reversed and the baby’s life saved by flooding the woman’s system with progesterone.
Although the procedure is relatively new, Pittman cited a peer-reviewed study that contends intramuscular progesterone and high dose oral progesterone are effective in reversing the medical abortion process, “with reversal rates of 64% and 68%, respectively,” and with no apparent risk of congenital disabilities to the fetus or health risk for the mother.
Pittman also said that anyone who claims to be pro-choice should support his bill. It provides a woman with the choice to change her mind about abortion at the most critical moment. “She needs to know that choice is an option,” he contended.
Creech said he thought it was unfortunate that Pittman’s proposal never got a hearing. “I think the current situation marks a national emergency for pro-life supporters. Perhaps we ought to go back and take up Pittman’s bill in the Short Session as one way to address the possibility of companies that ignore state law by sending North Carolina women abortion pills. It might be utilized by women who suddenly change their minds and provide a safety net for the salvation of babies.”
Creech added that he thought there was tragic irony in the FDA making their announcement during the Christmas season.
“There is the account of King Herod killing the baby boys of Bethlehem, two years old and younger, because of the threat Messiah’s birth could mean to his power,” he said. “What is abortion today but the killing of innocent preborn infants in the name of preserving a so-called woman’s right to the throne of her own body? When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, who was pregnant with the Christ-child, the Bible says, Elizabeth’s preborn baby, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, leaped in her womb with joy and was filled with the Holy Spirit. What is this but a clear picture of the humanity of those in the womb?
“A child is a gift? What is a stronger statement to this truth than God coming to save humankind through the baby Jesus and going through the process of a woman’s pregnancy? It is a sacred and blessed thing and an abomination to abort a preborn child.
“We must work harder than ever to convince this country that the legality of abortion in any form is monstrous.”
