From Addia Wuchner, Executive Director of Kentucky Right to Life

On Wednesday, August 16, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the FDA had overstepped its authority allowing the deadly drugs to be sent by mail. Kentucky Right to Life Executive Director, Addia Wuchner affirmed the Court’s finding, stating, “The three judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that in 2016 and 2021, when the FDA loosened safety standards for the drug mifepristone (abortion pills) and then allowed the abortion drugs to be sent through the mail, the FDA likely violated the law.”

We have consistently stated that the FDA elected to ignore science and set aside medical best-practice safety standards, acting under political pressure to put forth guidelines permitting a do-it-yourself, at-home mail order abortion protocol that allowed abortion pills to be sent directly to the homes and dorm rooms of women and girls. The FDA’s rulings expanded a risky do-it-yourself abortion business that has opened the door for illegal trafficking of mifepristone into homes, bedrooms and dorms.

Kentucky has been on the right side of this issue. In 2022, the Kentucky General Assembly passed House Bill 3, which put forth restrictions on the deadly pill combination. Attorney General Daniel Cameron and his team took on the legal battle, fought and defended HB 3, and won.

We believe women deserve better than healthcare decisions and guidelines put forth under political agendas! Mail-order and do-it-yourself abortions are a risky business that targets vulnerable women and girls.

The FDA decision created not only a mail-order business model, but effectively contributed to creating a new industry of illegal trafficking of abortion pills into our state and around the country. We vigilantly monitor the abortion industry, and it has been alarming to discover what is actually occurring in post-Roe Kentucky while EMW and Planned Parenthood’s abortion facilities are closed for abortions.

We have seen an astounding increase of out-of-state prescribers who are mailing into the state, as well as foreign countries' marketing and illegally shipping the medications to Kentucky women and girls.

We have found crudely written post-it notes on billboards – “need abortion pills- call this number…”. Just recently we have received reports of “mutipacks” of chemical abortion pills into our state that supply Kentucky girls with dangerous Do-It-Yourself, “3 Abortion-Kill Packs” (which is a kit for up to 3 in-home abortions).

The Appeals Court basically ruled that the FDA’s approval process was inadequate, and that access to the abortion pill mifepristone be restricted, and not prescribed through a telemedicine encounter and delivered through the mail. The drugs are still for sale at this time, as we wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm Wednesday’s Appeals Court ruling and restrictions.

Of course, the Administration, through their spokesperson at the U.S. Department of Justice, stated the Administration will appeal the ruling.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 20, 2023) -- Addia Wuchner, Executive Director of Kentucky Right to Life, released the following statement:

“Almost one year to the day after we celebrated the historic Dobbs decision that solved one of our nation’s most grievous wrongs, Kentucky Right to Life is rejoicing that even pro-abortion activists in Kentucky recognize the validity of our ProLife laws. They have walked away from their own case before the Kentucky Supreme Court. Today, every word of every ProLife law is intact.

“After decades of prayer, work and action, the sanctity of life is now recognized across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We are grateful to the generations of Kentucky’s ProLife advocates, members of the Kentucky General Assembly, and champions like Attorney General Daniel Cameron who have made today’s victory possible.

“Now, the ProLife movement is eager to continue our work making abortion unthinkable and walking with the mothers and families who courageously choose life.”

UPDATED JUNE 21 2023

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 20, 2023) After a federal court dismissed challenges to the Humanity in Healthcare Act last week, Attorney General Daniel Cameron celebrates another legal victory for mothers and unborn children. Today, General Cameron announced that the plaintiffs in Jefferson Circuit Court—Planned Parenthood and EMW Women’s Surgical Center—have conceded and moved for voluntary dismissal of their challenge to Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act.

Attorney General Cameron released the following statement::

“A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable—especially the unborn. Today is a reminder that every life deserves to live. My office will always defend and enforce Kentucky’s pro-life laws passed by our General Assembly. We are gratified that the abortion providers recognized their case should be dismissed. As a result of our efforts, I am proud to say that the elective abortion industry is out of business in Kentucky, and their inhumane practice remains illegal in our Commonwealth.”

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 16, 2023) Attorney General Cameron announces that a federal court has dismissed the challenge to House Bill 3—the Humanity in Healthcare Act—brought by Planned Parenthood and EMW Women’s Surgical Center. One of the most comprehensive pieces of pro-life legislation in the Commonwealth’s history, the Humanity in Healthcare Act is now fully in force and is the law of Kentucky.

The dismissal of the challenge to HB 3 follows a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Court ordered that the district court’s rulings questioning HB 3’s legality are no longer binding and lifted the district court’s injunction preventing full enforcement of the law.

General Cameron released the following statement:

“Our laws should reflect our values. Kentuckians across the Commonwealth have repeatedly sent pro-life representatives to Frankfort to protect the health and safety of mothers and unborn children. That’s exactly what the General Assembly did in 2022 with House Bill 3. I always have and always will stand strong in defense of our pro-life legislation. And because of my office’s work, every word of the Humanity in Healthcare Act is now law.”

View the court ruling here.

This week the FDA suspended regulations on dispensing the abortion pill for the duration of the pandemic.

…the FDA cited a number of studies by abortion advocates claiming to have demonstrated that these at-home telemedical, ‘no-test’ abortions were safe.

This means a female can order her chemical (medical) abortion online during a consultation with a doctor, and receive the meds in the mail.

Read more on the National Right to Life blog.

KRLA and representatives of the General Assembly are already working on legislation to address this in the 2022 session in a Omnibus Bill.

Meanwhile, know how to be a sidewalk counselor in your own neighborhood!

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Related article: A third to one-half of abortions in USA are chemical not surgical

One of the most popular pages on the KRLA website is the one that has Abortion Statistics. Addia Wuchner, KRLA executive director, is in the process of updating some features. These will be reported when completed.

The reports on the KRLA website are provided by Donna Durning and a team of sidewalk counselors. They faithfully minister outside the EMW clinic each day it is open for business, counseling any women who will receive a pamphlet or exchange words, and counting the number who enter the clinic.

Their reports note that Kentucky’s 24-hour consent law means that some of the women may visit two or more times for one abortion. However, the EMW website says: “The State of Kentucky requires a face-to-face consent 24 hours before your procedure. This consent can take place in-person at EMW or by video consent via your computer or smartphone.” In other words, EMW starts counting the 24-hours if the woman shows up online for the video conference.

You may wonder how accurate the sidewalk counselors’ abortion statistics reports are. They are close.

In the bench trial to determine whether Transfer Agreements were needed, the Clinic owner shared statistics that were close to the pro-life team’s. Dr. Ernest Marshall noted that about 3,000 abortions were done yearly.

The most recent Ky Annual Abortion Statistics Report reveals that there were 3,021 abortions of Ky women, along with 318 who came from Indiana, 236 from Tennessee, 38 from Ohio, 22 from W. Va., and 29 from 15 other states. In full, 3,664 abortions were performed in Ky in 2019. Of that number, 19 were done in local hospitals. The sidewalk team report for 2019 was 3,978.

The 2019 report is the most current official one that we may view online. By law the Vital Statistics Branch issues a public report with statistics on all data collected for the PREVIOUS calendar year, by Sept. 30 of each year.

Legislation affecting abortion statistics

In 2020 a single bill with pro-life language passed, and was not vetoed. SB 102, sponsored by Senators Robby Mills, Ralph Alvarado and C.B. Embry, requires that abortions be termed abortion, not stillbirth or termination of pregnancy, and that clinics and private hospitals report each abortion, regardless of the length of gestation, within 15 days after the end of each month in which the abortion occurred, to the Vital Statistics Branch.

There are penalties for late reporting. The woman’s name is never recorded nor is any man’s name nor the physician’s. As well, each prescription issued for RU-486 or other abortion medications must be reported to Vital Statistics within 15 days and without any identifying data.

As stated on the Vital Statistics abortion statistics web page, “The name of the person completing the report and the reporting institution are not subject to disclosure under KRS 61.870 to 61.884.” To the best of our understanding, in the future we will know the number of abortions performed or chemically induced, but not the institution names.

Trust But Verify is always a good rule. To that end, HB103 has been filed by Rep. Joe Fischer with 14 Republican co-sponsors to require the Department of Vital Statistics Report to include verification of compliance with the certification requirement of KRS 311.727 and to specify that the Auditor of Public Accounts shall function as a health oversight agency for the purpose of performing the audit. Read more.

With a preponderance of medical (chemical) abortions reported in 2019 —1845 out of 3664– it may be that the new requirement to report abortion pill prescriptions will bring to light greater numbers of these and any pharmacies that cooperate with out-of-state telemed abortion providers.

Ky has a law that an abortion must be done in person, not via telehealth programs, but this was overridden for a time in 2020. See related article.

Since SB 120 only passed last spring, at about the same time the Planned Parenthood clinic opened, the 2019 report has only EMW and private hospital statistics.

In it we see that University Hospital performed seven abortions. Ky Law states: Public agency funds shall not be used for the purpose of obtaining an abortion or paying for the performance of an abortion. So, we assume these seven were private-pays or to save the life of the mother. Norton Hospital performed eight and Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital performed four. EMW performed 3,645.

According to the 2019 Report, eight abortions were classified as “Termination Necessary.” But 1,745 were classified as Termination Necessary Status “unknown.” Of the Total Number, 1,911 were categorized as NOT necessary. This is hard to understand.

Ky Law states: No abortion shall be performed except by a physician after either: (a) He determines that, in his best clinical judgment, the abortion is necessary; or (b) He receives what he reasonably believes to be a written statement signed by another physician, hereinafter called the ‘referring physician,’ certifying that in the referring physician’s best clinical judgment the abortion is necessary, and, in addition, he receives a copy of the report form required by KRS 213.055. This statute has been in effect since 1982, but in 1990, during the administration of Wallace Wilkinson (D), the requirement for the report form was dropped.

Thank you, Sidewalk Team, for your dedication and love for unborn babies and their moms. You are our healthcare heroines.

It’s not enough that a female now can get the abortion pills (combination of medications) online with only an online consultation. The abortion mavens want teens and women to get the abortion pills EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT SURE THEY ARE PREGNANT!

They call it the Missed-period Pill (MPP) for No-test Medical Abortion.

A seminar was held last spring to announce the project, and a sample protocol has been written. See here. Media hype has begun. The group is now exploring potential interest.

Why? “It appears that after decades of feminism, culminating in groups like Shout Your Abortion, many women still appear to be ashamed of having an abortion. A dark stigma still hangs over the procedure.” (ref)

According to the NYTimes, “Abortion drugs administered as early as 28 days after a woman’s last period can offer comfort in uncertainty to those who want it.” A survey found that “for all of the ease and convenience of the at-home test, a significant number of women would prefer not to know...”

One participant said that such a service would be ‘a psychological cushion’ for those women “who may be unsure of their own feelings on abortion.” Another said that she thought it would result “in less moral conflict,” and a third that she would feel “less guilty of my choice.”

We were warned by Planned Parenthood that they intend to erase the stigma attached to abortion.

Some abortion activists call the MPP Plan C: “It could be positioned between emergency contraception and abortion (which is the termination of a confirmed pregnancy), filling the gaping hole in the continuum of options available to those trying to manage their fertility.” [ibid Bioedge]

We are sure the American Assoc. of Pro-life ObGyns will work to prevent this potential harm to women and babies. KRLA is on board to protest this highly dangerous experiment.

UPDATE on Jan. 12, 2021

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the Trump administration’s request for the reinstatement of the FDA rules requiring an in-person doctor visit before a woman obtains abortion pills.

LifeNews stated: The dangers of de-regulating the abortion drugs are serious, and the consequences are being seen in England. In March, the British government temporarily allowed the abortion drugs to be mail-ordered during the pandemic. By July, reports began to surface of women dying after taking the drugs.

NRLC’s Carol Tobias said: “We are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes the serious nature of chemical abortions and the need for the FDA to have protocols in place to protect women from potentially life-threatening and devastating side effects…”

LifeSiteNews predicted: The SCOTUS ruling is premised on the federal government having the power to decide FDA regulations… it is all but certain that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will suspend or permanently scrap the basic health and safety regulation soon after taking power.

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ORIGINAL POST

With the October 8 decision by the Supreme Court to allow abortion pills to be sold by mail AGAINST FDA REGULATIONS, there are sure to be many home abortions until the matter is fully decided. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

The district court judge who ruled that the pandemic makes it necessary for women (nationwide) to get pills without seeing a doctor in person has been advised by SCOTUS to “review his ruling and issue a new order within 40 days.” The case will then be revisited, and as stated on the SCOTUS blog, by the time … the proceedings return to the Supreme Court, the court may have welcomed a ninth member.

The SCOTUS blog further noted that “Thursday’s order may well reflect a compromise in the wake of the Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which left the court with only eight members.” This makes it sound like RBG’s death was honored by letting women handle their own abortions, a pathetic footnote in the annals of abortion lore.

As reported in the recently published 2019 abortion statistics, of 3,664 abortions performed in Ky, 3,249 were done when the pre-born baby was from 1-10 weeks gestation.

On the Planned Parenthood website, it is stated:

• For people who are 9-10 weeks pregnant, it [the abortion pill] works about 91-93 out of 100 times. If you're given an extra dose of medicine, it works about 99 out of 100 times.
• For people who are 10-11 weeks pregnant, it works about 87 out of 100 times. If you're given an extra dose of medicine, it works about 98 out of 100 times.
• The abortion pill usually works, but if it doesn’t, you can take more medicine or have an in-clinic abortion to complete the abortion.

Note, the FDA rules require that the abortion pill be provided in-person by a medical professional to a woman UP TO 10 WEEKS of pregnancy. So, why does PP stretch it to 11 weeks?

Medical abortion not a new trend

It seems likely that many of Ky’s abortions are already done at home. But at least up to last week, the woman was required to see a physician in a clinic for evaluation and some emergency assistance. And, by law, the doctor was required to tell the patient about the Abortion Reversal Pill. That law passed in Ky in 2019. Some ladies have reported that they were never told about it. We doubt that the advisory will be included with the abortion pills received by mail.

For a time, and perhaps from now on, abortion is a DIY, do-it-yourself procedure.

How can we spread the GOOD word that a medical abortion can be reversed?

Know the facts! When you have the opportunity to share information, be sure your friends and acquaintances learn that if a woman changes her mind after taking the abortion pill, she can go online to AbortionPillReversal.com. She should call the Emergency Phone, 877.558.0333.

Currently, this service can recommend one pregnancy center and three physicians in Kentucky who are in the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and able to prescribe progesterone to a client wishing to reverse an abortion.

This is a safe procedure. See more information here.

Share this important news!

By law the Vital Statistics Branch must publish Ky’s abortion statistics for the calendar year by September 30. The 2019 Report shows an increase of 460 abortions at the EMW clinic over 2018. This increase may reflect that the Abortion Pill Reporting Requirements Law was passed in 2019.

Hospital abortions would be those to save the mother’s life, we assume.

The Report shows that women ages 20-24 have the most abortions with those 25-29 a close second place.

Black Lives Matter?

Of the 3,664 abortions in Ky in 2019, 1248 or 34% were for black women.

College-educated women led the way in numbers of abortions: 1,866 with 1-4 years, and those with 5+years had 243.

For a close count of abortions done at EMW in 2020, see the reports from the sidewalk counselors transcribed by KRLA on this website.

Pushing the envelope or pushing the coat hanger?

SPECIAL for ObGyn Physicians

May 7, 2020 | Eau Claire, Mich. | Donna J. Harrison M.D., Executive Director

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Reprinted by permission of AAPLOG, American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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When we think of someone who sells drugs to a buyer, knowing that drug will result in an ER visit for nearly one out of 20 buyers and surgery for almost that many, we generally think of illegal drug dealers. Think again. The new drug dealers are pushing do-it-yourself abortion with Mifeprex and Misoprostol. Why?

The abortion industry has two significant problems:

1. Most doctors don't want to do abortions. Roughly 3/4 of ob-gyns will not perform abortions. The doctors that do perform abortions are aging out of practice.
2. Medical standard of care practice requirements like informed consent, at-minimum 24-hour waiting periods, hospital privileges, procedure rooms adequately sterilized and stocked with resuscitative equipment, trained anesthetists and other standards of medical care practice that the rest of us comprehend as essential to patient safety, the abortion industry disdains as "preventing access." The real complaint, however, is "cuts into our bottom line profit margin."

The COVID-19 epidemic has brought the primary, financial objective of the abortion industry into sharp focus: to abort as many women as possible in as little time as possible, with as little follow up as possible. Abortion clinics have flouted requirements to cancel elective surgeries, now claiming preposterously that instead of a "choice," elective abortion is essential medical care. Abortion clinics cancel pelvic exams, pap smears, other cancer screenings and STI screenings; they flout state laws by refusing to report pregnancies in cases of statutory rape, refusing to obtain state-mandated parental or legal guardian consent and ignoring COVID-19 abortion bans. But you can't have it both ways… essential medical care requires complying with medical standards of care, which the abortion industry refuses to do because money for abortion is their bottom line.

Read more.

National Right to Life reports in its May magazine that the term “surgical abortion” is being replaced with “procedural abortion.” Newspeak is an especially fierce battlefront of the culture war.

The NRLC story refers to a Rewire.News article, published last month, stating:

Rewire.News has updated its style guide to more accurately describe abortion care. Instead of referring to “medication and surgical” abortion to distinguish between abortions induced by pills and abortions performed as an in-clinic procedure, Rewire.News will use “medication and procedural” abortion.

The article explains that for pregnancies in the first trimester (up to 12 weeks) the procedure is a five to 10 minute process “involving gentle suction to remove the products of conception,” and it does not typically require cutting or suturing of any kind. To see an abortion of a 12-week old pre-born baby, see Dr. Bernard Nathanson’s video, The Silent Scream. There are surgical aspects.

Numerous metal instruments are inserted into the woman to achieve the abortion. Tissue must be cut— the amniotic sac in which the baby lives has to be torn open so that the suction tube can vacuum out his or her body parts (— at 12 weeks we know whether it’s a boy or girl). A polyp forceps must be inserted to crush the head before the skull bones and brains can be sucked out. So, by definition, even early stage abortion is surgery. (See the AMA definition of surgery.)

The article quotes healthcare providers who are irked when they are accused of using “a whole bunch of critical medical supplies and take PPE [personal protective equipment] away from the hospital” during the pandemic.

After all, they say, a first-trimester abortion only requires “2 pairs of gloves (1 for the ultrasound and 1 for the procedure) and a reusable face shield. A gown and mask are not usually required… If a person is forced to carry their pregnancy to term, their cesarean section would require significantly more PPE…” (We have inserted pictures of face shields in case readers may be wondering how they differ from masks.)

Now you know. Clinic personnel will not be wearing face masks for surgical abortions. We wonder— Do they require the patients do so?

Sincere thanks to the sidewalk counselors who have consistently stood nearby the women entering the EMW clinic despite the pandemic. A wonderful description of what is going on there, written by Ed Harpring, the Pro-Life Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Louisville, can be read on Facebook.