The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed in a new report that there has been a rise in the number of women requesting for chemical abortions following the implementation of the Texas Heartbeat Act on September 1, 2021.
The Texas abortion ban prohibits the termination of the life unborn children as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected, at around the six-week mark, a period of time in which most women are even unaware of their pregnancy.
According to the JAMA report, there was a shocking increase in the number of women illegally obtaining abortion pills from the organization Aid Access, which delivers chemical abortion medication to those in need worldwide. On average, there was about 10 requests for illegal chemical abortion drugs per day before the Texas Heartbeat Act was enacted.
The JAMA report revealed however, that after the September 1 enactment of the Texas Heartbeat Act, the daily average of requests for illegal chemical abortion drugs was at 61. This concerns medical practitioners and pro-life advocates, who have highlighted the other dangers of chemical abortions aside from the killing of the unborn child.
CBN News reported that chemical abortion drugs are made up of two drugs called mifepristone and misoprostol, which when taken over a period of a few days by women who are at most 10 weeks pregnant, will induce an abortion. However, those who self-medicate and fail to undergo a doctor's exam may misjudge how far alone they are in a pregnancy and taking chemical abortion drugs may cause excessive bleeding, infection, and a slew of other adverse events.
The pro-life group Texas Right to Life said they are aware of the push towards illegal chemical abortions and will continue the fight against all kinds of abortions. The group said in a statement, "We will continue to work to hold out-of-country actors, such as Aid Access, accountable to our life-saving laws and educate women on the dangers of self-managed abortion."
Back in 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to Aid Access warning them against supplying "violative drugs into U.S. Commerce." The FDA argued that selling "misbranded and unapproved new drugs" poses an "inherent risk" to women who purchase them. The agency also warned that drugs that have not been assessed against regulatory safeguards may be "contaminated; counterfeit, contain varying amounts of active ingredients, or contain different ingredients altogether."
Last week, the Guttmacher Institute released a report revealing the steady increase in chemical abortions since 2001. According to The Hill, the report found that according to data, the increase began at 6% and grew to 24% by 2011. In 2020, chemical abortions have increased to up to 54%, accounting for more than half of all abortions in the U.S.
The FDA first approved chemical abortion pills in 2000. Today, pro-life legislators are attempting to restrict abortion pills and chemical abortions through proposed bills. In fact, as of this month, there are up to 32 states that "require clinicians who administer abortion pills to be physicians," meaning that the distribution of chemical abortion drugs in rural or underserved areas where a physician is not always present has become limited.
Arizona, Arkansas, and Texas have outright prohibited the mailing of abortion pills to patients. Meanwhile, Montana, Oklahoma and South Dakota's ban on the mailing of chemical abortion drugs were blocked by court rulings.
