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Abortion Pill
Poll finds half of Americans support mail-order abortion drugs
Bridget Sielicki
·Spotlight Articles
Abortion Pill·By Nancy Flanders
Women are taking the abortion pill well beyond the FDA limit
A recent story out of North Carolina confirmed that women are self-administering the abortion pill far beyond the FDA-approved 11 weeks — and it's had devastating results.
The FDA has been relaxing safety rules on the abortion pill for over a decade, leading to a lack of oversight and a lack of care for women who take it without medical supervision.
Easier access to the abortion pill via telehealth has led to horror stories of babies found in toilets and in dumpsters.
Taking the abortion pill after the first trimester, outside FDA-approved limits, increases the risks to women, including hemorrhage, incomplete abortion, and infection.
The FDA approved the abortion pill mifepristone to kill growing human embryos through seven weeks in 2000. It extended that window to 10 weeks in 2016, and the abortion pill is used through 11 weeks. Planned Parenthood even markets it as safe to use through 12 weeks, two weeks beyond the FDA-approved gestational range.
A string of decisions by the FDA to continually weaken safety rules surrounding the abortion pill means women are now accessing and taking the drugs well beyond 10, 11, or even 12 weeks — and without the supervision of a doctor.
The result of mail-order abortion pill access: traumatized and injured women, viable dead babies, and babies born alive but prematurely and at risk of complications. Sometimes, they are born alive but left for dead.
Previously, an in-person doctor visit was required in order to take mifepristone, but that rule was removed by the Biden administration during the COVID pandemic. After the pandemic eased, that rule was not restored.
When a woman orders the abortion pills online, she gains access to the deadly drug cocktail even if she is in the second or third trimester because no doctor is physically evaluating her.
A report from NPR in 2024 offered an inside look at the business of online abortion pill sales — and the results proved how dangerous the online abortion market is. The fact is, there's no counseling, no physical exam, and no knowledge of whether or not the woman is dealing with any contraindications such as an ectopic pregnancy or an Rh-negative status.
A woman can log onto one of the many abortion pill websites, answer a few basic questions to see if she qualifies, and be connected with a "provider" to gain access to the drugs. What happens next is traumatic. She takes the pill at home without medical supervision and is often caught of guard by her experience — both the pain and the humanity of her child.
These women aren't seeing a "clump of cells" in the toilet. They are seeing their baby — sometimes dead and sometimes still alive. It's traumatic. Plus, the later in the pregnancy, the greater the risks are of incomplete abortion, hemorrhage, and deadly infection for the mother. Even without complications, the pain of the abortion is often greater than expected as well.
In addition, when the abortion pill is taken at home, there is a body to dispose of. In the first trimester, the babies are typically flushed. In the second and third trimester, getting rid of the body is not so easy. As previously reported by Live Action News:
2015 – Abortion pill at 25-30 weeks: A woman in Indiana was sentenced to 20 years in prison after attempting to abort her viable son, who was about 25 to 30 weeks gestation, with abortion pills she bought online. He was born alive, but she wrapped him in a garbage bag and left him in a dumpster.
2020 – Abortion pill at 23-27 weeks: Shortly after the UK approved at-home abortions during the COVID pandemic, a 28-week preborn baby died after the mother took abortion drugs. In addition, two women died after taking the drugs.
2021 – Abortion pill at 23-27 weeks: An Ohio woman was indicted on charges related to the disposal of her baby in a motel trash can after she took abortion drugs. The baby was estimated to have been between 23 and 27 weeks.
2024 – Abortion pill at 21-22 weeks: During a routine traffic stop, police found the body of a baby in the back of a woman’s car. She had ordered “a pill” to abort the baby and gave birth to her stillborn son, estimated to be 21 to 22 weeks gestation.
2025 – Abortion pill at 20 weeks: An investigation was opened in Louisiana, revealing that New York abortionist Margaret Carpenter had mailed the abortion pill to a woman in Shreveport, Louisiana, who was reportedly 20 weeks pregnant. The woman threw the baby’s body in the trash and then went to the hospital. When she told police where the baby’s body was, they launched an investigation.
2025 – Abortion pill at 20 weeks: A teen girl in Singapore took online abortion drugs between 29 and 33 weeks gestation and gave birth to a living baby girl on the bathroom floor. The baby later died.
And then there's the recent case in North Carolina:
2026 – Abortion pill at 31 weeks: In the North Carolina case, a teen couple allegedly learned they were pregnant at 20 weeks. And at 31 weeks, the girlfriend, Syeisha Johnson, allegedly took the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol after ordering them online from a source in Virginia. The baby was born alive in the toilet, and Johnson called 911, but left the baby in the toilet. As of the most recent report, the baby was in stable condition at a hospital.
Despite all of the evidence against taking the abortion pill unsupervised or late into pregnancy, women can use the online sites to potentially get the abortion pill without even being pregnant.
Dr. Daniel Grossman, an abortionist, believes abortionists should give women the abortion pill before they are pregnant in an effort to expand the use of the abortion pill under “advanced provision of medication abortion.”
Writing in the LA Times, Grossman stated:
The idea is simple: Give women abortion pills before they need them — ‘advance provision,’ as it’s known — so that they can take them as soon as they discover a pregnancy. Women could get the pills from their gynecologist at the time of their annual exam, say, or the pills could be made available online.
And if a woman doesn't realize she's pregnant right away, she can take the drugs even into the third trimester. And if a friend or family member becomes pregnant, she can hand those drugs over to them without ever speaking to a doctor, increasing the chances of taking the drug beyond the 10 week FDA limit.
The abortion industry, via the abortion pill, didn’t just offload the abortions themselves to women so they can profit financially without much overhead; they also offloaded the problem of disposing of the remains of those aborted children and the aftercare the women may need, especially the women who take the drugs so late in pregnancy.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Bridget Sielicki
·
Abortion Pill
Bridget Sielicki
·
Abortion Pill
Nancy Flanders
·
Abortion Pill
Carole Novielli
·
Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·
Abortion Pill
Bridget Sielicki
·Abortion Pill
Nancy Flanders
·
Investigative
Nancy Flanders
·
Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·
Human Interest
Nancy Flanders
·Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·Abortion Pill·By Nancy Flanders
Women are taking the abortion pill well beyond the FDA limit
A recent story out of North Carolina confirmed that women are self-administering the abortion pill far beyond the FDA-approved 11 weeks — and it's had devastating results.
The FDA has been relaxing safety rules on the abortion pill for over a decade, leading to a lack of oversight and a lack of care for women who take it without medical supervision.
Easier access to the abortion pill via telehealth has led to horror stories of babies found in toilets and in dumpsters.
Taking the abortion pill after the first trimester, outside FDA-approved limits, increases the risks to women, including hemorrhage, incomplete abortion, and infection.
The FDA approved the abortion pill mifepristone to kill growing human embryos through seven weeks in 2000. It extended that window to 10 weeks in 2016, and the abortion pill is used through 11 weeks. Planned Parenthood even markets it as safe to use through 12 weeks, two weeks beyond the FDA-approved gestational range.
A string of decisions by the FDA to continually weaken safety rules surrounding the abortion pill means women are now accessing and taking the drugs well beyond 10, 11, or even 12 weeks — and without the supervision of a doctor.
The result of mail-order abortion pill access: traumatized and injured women, viable dead babies, and babies born alive but prematurely and at risk of complications. Sometimes, they are born alive but left for dead.
Previously, an in-person doctor visit was required in order to take mifepristone, but that rule was removed by the Biden administration during the COVID pandemic. After the pandemic eased, that rule was not restored.
When a woman orders the abortion pills online, she gains access to the deadly drug cocktail even if she is in the second or third trimester because no doctor is physically evaluating her.
A report from NPR in 2024 offered an inside look at the business of online abortion pill sales — and the results proved how dangerous the online abortion market is. The fact is, there's no counseling, no physical exam, and no knowledge of whether or not the woman is dealing with any contraindications such as an ectopic pregnancy or an Rh-negative status.
A woman can log onto one of the many abortion pill websites, answer a few basic questions to see if she qualifies, and be connected with a "provider" to gain access to the drugs. What happens next is traumatic. She takes the pill at home without medical supervision and is often caught of guard by her experience — both the pain and the humanity of her child.
These women aren't seeing a "clump of cells" in the toilet. They are seeing their baby — sometimes dead and sometimes still alive. It's traumatic. Plus, the later in the pregnancy, the greater the risks are of incomplete abortion, hemorrhage, and deadly infection for the mother. Even without complications, the pain of the abortion is often greater than expected as well.
In addition, when the abortion pill is taken at home, there is a body to dispose of. In the first trimester, the babies are typically flushed. In the second and third trimester, getting rid of the body is not so easy. As previously reported by Live Action News:
2015 – Abortion pill at 25-30 weeks: A woman in Indiana was sentenced to 20 years in prison after attempting to abort her viable son, who was about 25 to 30 weeks gestation, with abortion pills she bought online. He was born alive, but she wrapped him in a garbage bag and left him in a dumpster.
2020 – Abortion pill at 23-27 weeks: Shortly after the UK approved at-home abortions during the COVID pandemic, a 28-week preborn baby died after the mother took abortion drugs. In addition, two women died after taking the drugs.
2021 – Abortion pill at 23-27 weeks: An Ohio woman was indicted on charges related to the disposal of her baby in a motel trash can after she took abortion drugs. The baby was estimated to have been between 23 and 27 weeks.
2024 – Abortion pill at 21-22 weeks: During a routine traffic stop, police found the body of a baby in the back of a woman’s car. She had ordered “a pill” to abort the baby and gave birth to her stillborn son, estimated to be 21 to 22 weeks gestation.
2025 – Abortion pill at 20 weeks: An investigation was opened in Louisiana, revealing that New York abortionist Margaret Carpenter had mailed the abortion pill to a woman in Shreveport, Louisiana, who was reportedly 20 weeks pregnant. The woman threw the baby’s body in the trash and then went to the hospital. When she told police where the baby’s body was, they launched an investigation.
2025 – Abortion pill at 20 weeks: A teen girl in Singapore took online abortion drugs between 29 and 33 weeks gestation and gave birth to a living baby girl on the bathroom floor. The baby later died.
And then there's the recent case in North Carolina:
2026 – Abortion pill at 31 weeks: In the North Carolina case, a teen couple allegedly learned they were pregnant at 20 weeks. And at 31 weeks, the girlfriend, Syeisha Johnson, allegedly took the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol after ordering them online from a source in Virginia. The baby was born alive in the toilet, and Johnson called 911, but left the baby in the toilet. As of the most recent report, the baby was in stable condition at a hospital.
Despite all of the evidence against taking the abortion pill unsupervised or late into pregnancy, women can use the online sites to potentially get the abortion pill without even being pregnant.
Dr. Daniel Grossman, an abortionist, believes abortionists should give women the abortion pill before they are pregnant in an effort to expand the use of the abortion pill under “advanced provision of medication abortion.”
Writing in the LA Times, Grossman stated:
The idea is simple: Give women abortion pills before they need them — ‘advance provision,’ as it’s known — so that they can take them as soon as they discover a pregnancy. Women could get the pills from their gynecologist at the time of their annual exam, say, or the pills could be made available online.
And if a woman doesn't realize she's pregnant right away, she can take the drugs even into the third trimester. And if a friend or family member becomes pregnant, she can hand those drugs over to them without ever speaking to a doctor, increasing the chances of taking the drug beyond the 10 week FDA limit.
The abortion industry, via the abortion pill, didn’t just offload the abortions themselves to women so they can profit financially without much overhead; they also offloaded the problem of disposing of the remains of those aborted children and the aftercare the women may need, especially the women who take the drugs so late in pregnancy.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Bridget Sielicki
·Abortion Pill
Bridget Sielicki
·Abortion Pill
Nancy Flanders
·Abortion Pill
Carole Novielli
·Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·Abortion Pill
Bridget Sielicki
·Abortion Pill
Nancy Flanders
·Investigative
Nancy Flanders
·Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·Human Interest
Nancy Flanders
·Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·