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Abortions on the Cheap--
Financially, Medically,
Ethically
Part Two of Three By Dave Andrusko Yesterday in the haste of getting materials posted, I made a passing reference to "Faraway doctors give abortion pills by video," a very good story in a prominent Iowa newspaper. Subsequently I received a number of emails asking me to talk a little further about Planned Parenthood's use of videoconferencing to facilitate chemically-induced abortions. I will, of course, but NRLC's resident expert on PPFA and on abortifacients, Dr. Randall K. O'Bannon, will deal with it in more detail in the June issue of National Right to Life News
Another stab at reengineering is to "treat" patients via videoconferencing. In the instance of the superb story that ran in the Des Moines Register, the "treatment" is chemically-induced abortion. (See http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100516/NEWS/5160336/Faraway-doctors-give-abortion-pills-by-video). Beyond the sheer horror of the abortion itself, the whole thing is creepy. Described as "the first-in-the-nation," the system "allows a Planned Parenthood physician from Des Moines to visit with each patient by videoconference, then press a computer button to open a drawer in front of the patient, who could be seated up to 190 miles away," according to Tony Leys. The patient then reaches into the drawer and withdraws the abortion pills." The two drugs in question are ones we've written about dozens and dozens of times in this space and National Right to Life News. They first is RU-486 (brand names Mifeprex), which the woman takes at the clinic. The second drug is misoprostol, a prostaglandin, which, according to Leys, "women take at home after taking Mifeprex in the clinic." The former essentially shuts down the baby's life support system, causing the tiny child to shrivel and die. The latter stimulates powerful uterine contractions to dislodge and expel the child's body. In the past two years some 1,500 Iowa women have used "Planned Parenthood of the Heartland's videoconferencing system to obtain abortion drugs," Leys writes. As you would expect, Planned Parenthood swears up and down this system is safe and "efficient" and that they meet all state requirements. For example, according to the story, Iowa law requires that "abortions must be performed by a physician." How does this system meet that requirement? "Planned Parenthood says its doctors meet that requirement when they dispense the abortion drugs by remote control, then watch via a secure communications system as their patients take the first dose of medication," according to Leys. Two other quick notes. These are abortions, but for the umpteenth time a reporter describes the drugs' action as "causing them to miscarry." Amazing. Second, assuming there are no complications, women will come back in two weeks. Before they leave the first time, they see a happy-face video that shows "a re-enactment of a follow-up visit." It is designed to simultaneously demonstrate a mother's love and expediency. "Well, you're no longer pregnant," an actor in a white coat tells a woman portraying a patient. "That's great," the woman says. "I really would like a baby sometime. But right now, we just can't afford it. I'm really glad we had this choice." And had the baby been able to talk, she'd probably would have said, "I really like being a baby right now. And I can't afford you not affording me. So I'm really hoping your choice is for life! Please also be sure to read "National Right to Life News Today" (www.nationalrighttolifenews.org). If you can, please comment on some or all of the stories and send your thoughts to daveandrusko@gmail.com. |
As
Dr. O'Bannon has explained many
times, PPFA is busy reinventing
itself and its billion-dollar
business. Part of that is
consolidation--dropping
unprofitable (or not profitable
enough) clinics--and erecting
mammoth complexes. (See