It has been 20 years since the abortion pill was first approved for use in the United States. Since its approval, the abortion pill has killed 3.7 million preborn human beings, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports the deaths of at least 24 women. Yet Americans are still being led to believe that the abortion pill is safe, and are being lied to about fetal development during the first trimester. 

How the abortion pill works

The abortion pill regimen includes two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone works to block the natural pregnancy hormone progesterone, which stabilizes the uterine lining and helps provide nourishment and blood to the developing child. Without progesterone, the baby will be starved of nutrients. Misoprostol then causes contractions and the woman will deliver a dead child. The abortion pill is approved by the FDA for the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

1st Trimester Medical Abortion: Abortion Pills

Just 16-22 days after fertilization, a preborn child’s heart is beating. By four weeks, her arm and legs buds are visible. By six weeks, brain activity can be recorded, and by seven weeks the four chambers of the heart have formed. At nine weeks, hair follicles along with toenail and fingernail beds are present. This human being is a unique individual who only needs more time to grow. Yet the abortion industry tells women that her baby at these stages is nothing more than a “product of conception” — unformed tissue to be easily discarded.

The First 10 Weeks Of Human Life

How the abortion pill was pushed on the United States

Live Action’s investigative video, “The True Story Behind the Abortion Pill” details the link between the manufacturer of Zyklon B — the gas used to kill Holocaust victims — and the original French manufacturer of the abortion pill, Roussel Uclaf. In 1994, one year after then-President Bill Clinton signed an executive order to bring the abortion pill to the U.S., Uclaf signed over the rights to market and distribute the abortion pill in the U.S to the Population Council, a eugenics-founded organization which conducted clinical trials with the abortion pill from 1994 to 1995. No U.S. company would agree to make the abortion pill, so a company was created. The manufacturing of the abortion pill was so heavily shrouded in secrecy that even the FDA refused to disclose the name or location of the drug’s manufacturer, but the new company was eventually revealed to be Danco Laboratories. Its investors included the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Open Society Foundations (George Soros), the Buffett Foundation (Warren Buffett), and the Kaiser Family Foundation:

The True Story Behind the Abortion Pill

The location and name of Danco’s manufacturing sites are still largely unknown. However, in 2000, it was revealed that one site was Hua Lian, a Chinese Communist Party-owned pharmaceutical company known to have a poor record on drug safety.

Since approval by the FDA in 2000, the abortion industry has worked to remove safeguards

Despite all of this, the abortion pill was approved by the FDA in September 2000 with the promise to mitigate “serious patient risks” associated with the use of Mifeprex (mifepristone) by placing a safeguard on the pill regimen called REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy). This required that the drug only be dispensed by medical doctors at approved locations. In fact, the FDA stated that “dispensing the drug in broader settings, such as through retail pharmacies, could also expose patients to unnecessary and increased risks.”

Then, on September 1, 2001, a Canadian woman died after taking the abortion pill, and the news of her death went public on September 10, the day before the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Beverly Winikoff, founder of Gynuity Health Projects — the sponsor of abortion pill clinical trials on girls as young as 10 — said that the attack of September 11, 2001, saved the abortion pill:

I remember the first day we heard about a death [from the abortion pill]… It was September 10, 2001… And that’s [the tragic attack of 9/11] what saved mifepristone.

And that was like, existential, like, ‘Oh my God. What is going on?’ And ‘is this going to be a problem?’ … Planned Parenthood was very worried and was thinking of taking [the abortion pill] out of its clinics. And this was after it was registered.

Instead, the woman’s death was buried in the news and the abortion industry breathed a collective sigh of relief that America’s deadliest terrorist attack had hidden the truth about the deadly effects of the abortion pill.

READ: The abortion industry is making a killing from abortion pill sales

Today, many in the abortion industry are pushing to allow mifepristone to be dispensed in pharmacies over-the-counter for women to take on their own at home. Taking it without seeing a doctor first is allowed for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, which is it? Is the abortion pill dangerous enough to require the use of REMS or is it safe enough to be taken over the counter? One simply needs to look at the UK, which approved the drug for at-home use in March because of COVID-19. This unsupervised protocol resulted in the deaths of two women and the birth and death of a 28-week-old preborn child whose mother attempted to take the abortion pill 18 weeks after the window for which it is approved.

As safe as Tylenol? That’s a lie

Despite its obvious dangers, the abortion industry insists that the abortion pill is safe enough to take at home, alone. Former Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards falsely claimed that it is “safer than Tylenol.” In reality, the abortion pill has been found to be four times more dangerous for women than first-trimester surgical abortion.

A 2015 study examined the complication rate of women in California who underwent abortions paid for by taxpayers through Medicaid from 2009-2010. Researchers found the complication rate to be 5.2% for women who took the abortion pill compared to 1.3% for women who underwent first-trimester surgical abortions. Major complications occurred for the abortion pill at a rate of .31% while major complications occurred in first-trimester surgical abortions at a rate of .16%.

Women have also shared their personal horror stories, calling the abortion pill “an act of self-violence” that included “contractions, vomiting, bleeding, crying, sh**ing,” which left them “traumatized.” One woman said after she took the abortion pill she was so traumatized she dropped out of school. Women tell stories of “gushing” blood that “nothing was able to absorb,” and of their bathroom looking like “a crime scene.” They dealt with “convulsions, fever, and chills” that left them “excreting fluids I did not know my body had onto the wood floor.”

“I thought I was dying,” said one woman. “This couldn’t be normal. Planned Parenthood didn’t ever tell me this could happen. … I decided that I would call them in the morning… if I didn’t die before then.”

If the abortion industry and its wealthy supporters know that the abortion pill is dangerous to women, they do not allow it to stop them from making a heavy profit — grossing nearly $200 million annually in sales (twice as much as projected). They have been hiding the truth for 20 years. Now that the abortion industry is pushing for the “de-medicalization” of the abortion pill, the horrific stories will only increase, as will the death toll.

Editor’s Note, 4/18/21: The FDA has received reports of serious adverse events in women who took Mifeprex. As of December 31, 2018, there were reports of 24 deaths of women associated with Mifeprex since the product was approved in September 2000, including two cases of ectopic pregnancy resulting in death; and several cases of severe systemic infection (also called sepsis), including some that were fatal. 

The adverse events cannot with certainty be causally attributed to mifepristone because of concurrent use of other drugs, other medical or surgical treatments, co-existing medical conditions, and information gaps about patient health status and clinical management of the patient. A summary report of adverse events that reflects data through December 31, 2018 is here.

“Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary!

It has been 20 years since the abortion pill was first approved for use in the United States. Since its approval, the abortion pill has killed 3.7 million preborn human beings, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports the deaths of at least 24 women. Yet Americans are still being led to believe that the abortion pill is safe, and are being lied to about fetal development during the first trimester. 

How the abortion pill works

The abortion pill regimen includes two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone works to block the natural pregnancy hormone progesterone, which stabilizes the uterine lining and helps provide nourishment and blood to the developing child. Without progesterone, the baby will be starved of nutrients. Misoprostol then causes contractions and the woman will deliver a dead child. The abortion pill is approved by the FDA for the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

1st Trimester Medical Abortion: Abortion Pills

Just 16-22 days after fertilization, a preborn child’s heart is beating. By four weeks, her arm and legs buds are visible. By six weeks, brain activity can be recorded, and by seven weeks the four chambers of the heart have formed. At nine weeks, hair follicles along with toenail and fingernail beds are present. This human being is a unique individual who only needs more time to grow. Yet the abortion industry tells women that her baby at these stages is nothing more than a “product of conception” — unformed tissue to be easily discarded.

The First 10 Weeks Of Human Life

How the abortion pill was pushed on the United States

Live Action’s investigative video, “The True Story Behind the Abortion Pill” details the link between the manufacturer of Zyklon B — the gas used to kill Holocaust victims — and the original French manufacturer of the abortion pill, Roussel Uclaf. In 1994, one year after then-President Bill Clinton signed an executive order to bring the abortion pill to the U.S., Uclaf signed over the rights to market and distribute the abortion pill in the U.S to the Population Council, a eugenics-founded organization which conducted clinical trials with the abortion pill from 1994 to 1995. No U.S. company would agree to make the abortion pill, so a company was created. The manufacturing of the abortion pill was so heavily shrouded in secrecy that even the FDA refused to disclose the name or location of the drug’s manufacturer, but the new company was eventually revealed to be Danco Laboratories. Its investors included the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Open Society Foundations (George Soros), the Buffett Foundation (Warren Buffett), and the Kaiser Family Foundation:

The True Story Behind the Abortion Pill

The location and name of Danco’s manufacturing sites are still largely unknown. However, in 2000, it was revealed that one site was Hua Lian, a Chinese Communist Party-owned pharmaceutical company known to have a poor record on drug safety.

Since approval by the FDA in 2000, the abortion industry has worked to remove safeguards

Despite all of this, the abortion pill was approved by the FDA in September 2000 with the promise to mitigate “serious patient risks” associated with the use of Mifeprex (mifepristone) by placing a safeguard on the pill regimen called REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy). This required that the drug only be dispensed by medical doctors at approved locations. In fact, the FDA stated that “dispensing the drug in broader settings, such as through retail pharmacies, could also expose patients to unnecessary and increased risks.”

Then, on September 1, 2001, a Canadian woman died after taking the abortion pill, and the news of her death went public on September 10, the day before the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Beverly Winikoff, founder of Gynuity Health Projects — the sponsor of abortion pill clinical trials on girls as young as 10 — said that the attack of September 11, 2001, saved the abortion pill:

I remember the first day we heard about a death [from the abortion pill]… It was September 10, 2001… And that’s [the tragic attack of 9/11] what saved mifepristone.

And that was like, existential, like, ‘Oh my God. What is going on?’ And ‘is this going to be a problem?’ … Planned Parenthood was very worried and was thinking of taking [the abortion pill] out of its clinics. And this was after it was registered.

Instead, the woman’s death was buried in the news and the abortion industry breathed a collective sigh of relief that America’s deadliest terrorist attack had hidden the truth about the deadly effects of the abortion pill.

READ: The abortion industry is making a killing from abortion pill sales

Today, many in the abortion industry are pushing to allow mifepristone to be dispensed in pharmacies over-the-counter for women to take on their own at home. Taking it without seeing a doctor first is allowed for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, which is it? Is the abortion pill dangerous enough to require the use of REMS or is it safe enough to be taken over the counter? One simply needs to look at the UK, which approved the drug for at-home use in March because of COVID-19. This unsupervised protocol resulted in the deaths of two women and the birth and death of a 28-week-old preborn child whose mother attempted to take the abortion pill 18 weeks after the window for which it is approved.

As safe as Tylenol? That’s a lie

Despite its obvious dangers, the abortion industry insists that the abortion pill is safe enough to take at home, alone. Former Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards falsely claimed that it is “safer than Tylenol.” In reality, the abortion pill has been found to be four times more dangerous for women than first-trimester surgical abortion.

A 2015 study examined the complication rate of women in California who underwent abortions paid for by taxpayers through Medicaid from 2009-2010. Researchers found the complication rate to be 5.2% for women who took the abortion pill compared to 1.3% for women who underwent first-trimester surgical abortions. Major complications occurred for the abortion pill at a rate of .31% while major complications occurred in first-trimester surgical abortions at a rate of .16%.

Women have also shared their personal horror stories, calling the abortion pill “an act of self-violence” that included “contractions, vomiting, bleeding, crying, sh**ing,” which left them “traumatized.” One woman said after she took the abortion pill she was so traumatized she dropped out of school. Women tell stories of “gushing” blood that “nothing was able to absorb,” and of their bathroom looking like “a crime scene.” They dealt with “convulsions, fever, and chills” that left them “excreting fluids I did not know my body had onto the wood floor.”

“I thought I was dying,” said one woman. “This couldn’t be normal. Planned Parenthood didn’t ever tell me this could happen. … I decided that I would call them in the morning… if I didn’t die before then.”

If the abortion industry and its wealthy supporters know that the abortion pill is dangerous to women, they do not allow it to stop them from making a heavy profit — grossing nearly $200 million annually in sales (twice as much as projected). They have been hiding the truth for 20 years. Now that the abortion industry is pushing for the “de-medicalization” of the abortion pill, the horrific stories will only increase, as will the death toll.

Editor’s Note, 4/18/21: The FDA has received reports of serious adverse events in women who took Mifeprex. As of December 31, 2018, there were reports of 24 deaths of women associated with Mifeprex since the product was approved in September 2000, including two cases of ectopic pregnancy resulting in death; and several cases of severe systemic infection (also called sepsis), including some that were fatal. 

The adverse events cannot with certainty be causally attributed to mifepristone because of concurrent use of other drugs, other medical or surgical treatments, co-existing medical conditions, and information gaps about patient health status and clinical management of the patient. A summary report of adverse events that reflects data through December 31, 2018 is here.

“Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary!