History of the Abortion Pill

“Safe, legal, and rare,” the catchy phrase coined by Bill Clinton to frame abortion, was an attempt to unite abortion support in America. Before the 2000 elections, the Clinton administration fast-tracked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve Mifepristone (Abortion Pill) making it immediately available.

This forever changed abortion in America. The use of this drug has grown by leaps and bounds as have the number of injuries to women and the tragic loss of millions of American children.

A doctor’s approval is not required before obtaining mifepristone, which eliminates most of the safeguards for women, including the danger of an intrauterine pregnancy and exceeding the gestational age of 8 weeks beyond which a  woman’s risk of dying increases every week. Chemical abortion is four times the risk of surgical abortion, and one in five women requires emergency care after taking the abortion pill.

In 2020, chemical abortion has grown to be 65-80% of all abortions. Because abortion reporting is inconsistent and highly inaccurate, and because of the “Pill by Mail” market, it is impossible to really know the true numbers.

In 2018, the FDA reported 24 deaths and 4,000 adverse events. Our healthcare system still continues to turn a blind eye to this situation. There has still not been a  study of the mid to longer-term complications of mifepristone.

Mifepristone blocks a hormone called progesterone and starves the baby to death. Then another drug called misoprostol is used to expel the dead baby into the toilet to begin its final journey into the sewer system.

After nearly a quarter century of the rise of chemical abortion, “safe, legal, and rare” is being purged from the abortion narrative. Political forces and the abortion industry have moved the U.S. to a place of abortion at any cost, and at any time. Contrary to popular belief and talking points the evidence shows that chemical abortion is not as easy as “taking Advil”,  “safer than Tylenol” or “just a pill”. One might think chemical abortion is safer than a surgical procedure. One study revealed the overall adverse effect of chemical abortions is fourfold higher when compared to surgical abortions.

Women continued to have access to these drugs, prescribed through telemedicine across state lines and through pharmacies, retail stores, and abortion websites, no matter if they reside in red or blue states.

The pain of a mother losing a child is a powerful motivator to seek help after taking mifepristone. One such mother contacted  Dr. George Delgado, the medical director of Culture of Life, Family Health Care, San Diego. Doctor Delgado was familiar with progesterone which he had used to prevent miscarriages. In an effort to help this distraught Mother, the Doctor prescribed a progesterone treatment and it was successful in saving her pregnancy.

Dr. Delgado published the first peer-reviewed article in the medical literature describing the reversal of mifepristone (RU 486) using progesterone. He established the Abortion Pill Reversal program for women who changed their minds after taking mifepristone and want to reverse its effects. After considerable success, Dr. Delgado donated the program to Heartbeat International. Heartbeat set up a 24/7 Hotline and qualified more than 2000 medical clinics to administer the safe reversal procedure for women who called seeking help to save their pregnancy.

The Heartbeat International Hotline Line now receives regretful calls every day from women around the world. The regret is often immediate with 75% of these calls coming in within 24 hours of taking the first pill. The program has succeeded in saving more than 4000 babies’ lives.

Being able to share this hope that the abortion pill can be reversed, endorsed by more than 2000 clinics and hospitals, and safe for babies, is a reasonable medical answer to the woman’s desire to continue her pregnancy. This antidote is 68% effective in saving the life of her child. More than 4,000 lives have been saved by the use of the reversal procedure.

Since the FDA has failed to warn or protect the American public from these dangerous drugs, it seems likely that it will take a Court case to remove these deadly drugs from our healthcare system and markets. However, until this happens it is our mission to let vulnerable women know that reversal is possible if they immediately call the Heartbeat hotline.