By TIM BARTO
For those of us expecting – or at least hoping – that the 2022 Dobbs decision, which stated there is no constitutional right to kill an unborn child, would quiet the abortion debate and usher in an era of fewer killed babies, we couldn’t have been more wrong.
Among the Left, abortion has gone from a sacrosanct rite to the very burning pillar of fire that guides their political agenda. Okay, perhaps it is secondary to defeating Donald Trump at any cost, but it’s still a beacon that shines brightly among those who never met an abortion they didn’t respect.
Abortion was the issue that prevented the predicted “red wave” in the 2022 midterms, and it is being used by Harris/Walz and Democrats throughout the country to embolden their base; and, to their credit, they are using it effectively; not only against pro-life candidates, but through ballot measures and propositions.
There is, however, something of a wrinkle in their plan. It’s something of a meandering journey, but hang in there for a few paragraphs and we’ll get to it.
Americans United for Life found that people turn away from supporting abortions when they see and understand what actually occurs during the surgical procedure of destroying a baby in utero.
Planned Parenthood also understands this reality, and has shifted their focus from surgical to chemical abortions which, according to the Guttmacher Institute, made up 63% of abortions in the United States in 2023.
Guttmacher prefers to refer to chemical abortions as medication abortions. Planned Parenthood also refers to the chemical procedures as medication abortions, but they are also bolder and simply refer to the whole thing as the abortion pill.
The abortion pill procedure usually consists of a pregnant woman taking two pills – mifepristone and misoprostol, although the latter is sometimes used by itself. Mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) blocks progesterone, the chemical needed to help the baby grow. Misoprostol is then taken within two days, which causes the uterus to cramp and bleed and essentially cause a miscarriage.
The Planned Parenthood website provides instructions as follows:
Your doctor or nurse may give you both medicines at the health center. In some states you can do a virtual visit and have the pills mailed to you or pick them up at a local pharmacy. Some states have laws that say you must come to the health center for a separate visit before you get the abortion pills.
The website also offers advice about self-managed abortions, i.e., ending a pregnancy without the help of a doctor or nurse, and provides a link to an entity called “Plan C.” Clicking on the link brings up a disclaimer in which Planned Parenthood denies any responsibility or endorsement for advice or information provided by other parties. Yet, it still provides the link.
As if Planned Parenthood’s page wasn’t horrifying enough, Plan C’s website is where things get really ugly . . . and in a straightforward way. It’s dedicated to getting abortion pills into the hands of pregnant women in an expedient manner. There are frequently asked questions, and links to “Abortion pills by mail in every state.”
Just click on your state and you will be directed to information about potential legal risks as well as how to get the ball rolling on getting those abortion pills: online clinics that mail pills, websites that sell pills, and in-person clinics. The cheapest options come from the websites that sell pills, where one can get abortion pills for $30 and up (“from India” is noted in parentheses). Going through the online clinics that mail pills link can bring the goods to your mailbox for $150 or less. Going to an in-person clinic reflects a more expensive option at $500 or more. Legal concerns and Medicaid providers are openly identified.
And there it is. Follow a few links and for as little as $30 bucks, you, too, can get some pills to have an at-home abortion, complete with all the cramps, bleeding, and miscarriages . . . and, according to federal law, it’s illegal.
The Comstock Act of 1873, passed by Congress during the Grant administration, criminalized use of the Postal Service to send obscene materials. Congress later amended and codified the law under 18 U.S.C. 1461, which prohibited the sale of any drug or medicine for causing unlawful abortion.
Largely ignored during the 49 year reign of Roe v Wade, the Comstock Act has recently become the focus of attention by liberals who fear a Trump administration will use the law to ban the abortion pill and sending and receiving of all manner of materials used in abortion procedures. In December 2002, the Biden/Harris Department of Justice issued an opinion memorandum stating that the mailing of such materials is not prohibited if they are not used unintentionally; and this past June Democrats introduced bills in the U.S. Senate and House to repeal the act.
Abortion advocates argue that the Comstock Act is void because it has not been enforced, but it is still on the books and is still law, and shipping abortifacients to pro-life states is illegal.
Abortion-by-mail is dangerous to women’s health, and ordering abortion pills without an in-person medical exam is not safe. Even Planned Parenthood provides information that the mifepristone-misoprostol combination is only effective 87 to 98 percent of the time. Taking misoprostol alone, they report, is effective 85 to 95% of the time.
One can only imagine what happens during those instances when the chemical procedure is not effective, or when a young woman (statistically, 57% of abortions are performed on women in their 20s) is in medical distress, in pain and bleeding profusely.
The pro-life community is concerned about the health of the mother as well as that of her baby, and that needs to be made known because there is extreme hate and vitriol coming from the pro-abortion crowd who see pro-lifers as anti-women. Concern for the pregnant women goes hand-in-hand with concern for the child she is carrying.
Tim Barto is a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska, and is vice president of Alaska Family Council, a faith-based policy advocacy group that is unabashedly pro-life.
