Pro-life doctors urge public education about abortion drugs

The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists this week urged the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to help women understand the risks associated with abortion drugs. According to pro-life professionals, misinformation has led women to believe that it is safe to take abortion drugs without medical supervision. Many women also believe that pro-life laws prevent them from seeking medical help. Those false narratives have created fear and confusion for physicians and patients, the pro-life organization said.

What has happened recently to prompt the pro-life doctors’ statement? ProPublica, a nonprofit media group based in New York City, earlier this month published articles claiming that two mothers died in Georgia as a result of the state’s pro-life law. Georgia’s heartbeat law took effect in July 2022 and protects babies after about six weeks of pregnancy.

Candi Miller and Amber Thurman both died in the fall of 2022 when they experienced complications after taking abortion pills. Miller, age 41, ordered the drugs online and took them at home, according to the statement from the pro-life obstetricians and gynecologists. She did not seek medical attention when the abortion was incomplete and tissue from her unborn child remained in her uterus. She feared that her pregnancy could be dangerous due to pre-existing health conditions, according to Live Action, a pro-life media group. Miller’s family told ProPublica that she refused to go to the hospital because she mistakenly believed she would be prosecuted for receiving a dilation and curettage procedure, referred to as a D&C, to remove the tissue. An autopsy confirmed that the abortion had not been fully completed and found a lethal combination of painkillers in Miller’s system.

Thurman, age 28, traveled to North Carolina to obtain abortion drugs after she found out she was pregnant with twins. She developed a sepsis infection after the abortion was incomplete and went to Piedmont Henry Hospital south of Atlanta. Doctors waited 20 hours to perform a D&C, and Thurman died from the infection. It is unclear why physicians did not perform the procedure immediately, though the ProPublica article suggested that doctors falsely believed the procedure was illegal. Georgia’s pro-life law allows D&Cs once an unborn baby has already died, and a state medical review committee found that Thurman’s death was preventable.

What are the pro-life obstetricians and gynecologists requesting? The pro-life organization asked the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to join it in warning women about the risks of taking mifepristone and misoprostol without medical supervision. Sepsis is a known risk of mifepristone, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists said. AAPLOG also called on ACOG to encourage women to seek medical evaluations before and after taking the drugs.

The group also called for educational materials to help physicians in emergency rooms recognize complications of medication abortion, and to work with state officials to ensure physicians receive clear guidance on their state laws. “We cannot afford to let any more of the patients we were sworn to protect die due to false understandings of state abortion policy or distorted narratives surrounding abortion drugs,” the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists wrote in their statement.

Dig deeper: Read Eric Teetsel’s opinion piece about Kamala Harris’ radicalism on abortion.